In collaboration with representatives from various Native American groups from the Northwest and Canada, the American Museum of Natural History in New York has completely redesigned its exhibition rooms about their history.
“Indigenous peoples and museums have not always had the best of relationships,” said Morgan Guerin, co-curator and Musqueam tribal representative, at a preview of the revamped Northwest Coast Hall, which is slated to open its doors on May 13. “But here it was a completely different story.”
He first learned of the existence of the Northwest Coast Hall, which opened in 1899 as the first exhibition hall of the famous museum in New York’s Central Park, when his daughter happened to walk in there during an excursion and then called him on Facetime, Guerin said . He immediately noticed that, for example, many things had been labeled incorrectly.
“Monument for work towards reconciliation”
When curator Peter Whitely approached him later and asked for help with the redesign, he immediately agreed – and brought numerous representatives of other indigenous groups to his side. Now the exhibition rooms are “a monument to the work towards reconciliation”.
More than a thousand works, including baskets, garments and works of art, from the past centuries are on display. In the past, the museum had often been accused of presenting the history of the indigenous people in an incorrect, insensitive manner and without their participation.
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