The American Museum of Natural History in New York has taken a significant step by deciding to remove all human remains showcased in its exhibits. This move comes as the museum prepares a new storage location for its vast collection, which comprises 12,000 remains, including skeletal remains of Indigenous and enslaved Black people. This decision was communicated through a letter from the museum president, Sean M. Decatur, which was obtained by CNN.
Decatur emphasized in the letter, “We must acknowledge that, with the small exception of those who bequeathed their bodies to medical schools for continued study, no individual consented to have their remains included in a museum collection.” The museum’s updated collections policy further states that it will not acquire items that encourage damage to archeological sites, cultural monuments, or human burial places.
The removal process will involve taking out skeletons and mummies from 12 display cases and other items like musical instruments and beads made from or incorporating human bones. Decatur highlighted that 26% of the skeletal remains in the museum’s collection are of Native Americans from within the United States. The collection also includes remains of five enslaved Black individuals, which were excavated from a New York burial ground during a road construction project in the early 1900s.
Kendra Snyder, a museum spokesperson, mentioned that only “a very small percentage” of the museum’s full collection of skeletal remains is currently on display. This includes a complete human skeleton from a burial of a Mongolian warrior from around 1000 CE, a 19th-century Tibetan apron made of human bone, and instruments made from human bones displayed in the Hall of Mexico and South America.
Decatur, in his letter, stressed the ethical dilemmas presented by exhibiting human remains, especially when they are displayed alongside objects. He stated, “These are ancestors and are in some cases victims of violent tragedies or representatives of groups who were abused and exploited, and the act of public exhibition extends that exploitation.”
The policy change aims to address the “complex legacy of the human remains collection” and to prioritize the proper storage of these remains until they can be repatriated. The museum also acknowledged the flawed scientific agendas of the 19th and 20th centuries, which were rooted in white supremacy and used human remains to reinforce racial hierarchies.
Decatur concluded by saying, “Human remains collections were made possible by extreme imbalances of power.”