The American Museum of Natural History will repatriate 2,700 hair clippings to Native American tribes [1].
This move addresses a long-standing legal obligation to return ancestral remains, highlighting the ongoing tension between scientific preservation and indigenous rights. The delay in returning these items underscores the challenges museums face in auditing legacy collections.
The museum is returning the remains in accordance with a federal law established in 1990 [1]. This legislation mandates the return of Native American cultural items, and human remains, to lineal descendants and affiliated tribes. The hair clippings represent a significant volume of biological material that had remained in the institution's possession despite the legal requirements.
While the museum is now moving to fulfill these obligations, the process comes decades after the law was first enacted [1]. The repatriation effort involves identifying the specific tribes associated with the 2,700 samples [1] to ensure the remains are returned to the correct communities.
Efforts to catalog and return such items often reveal the scale of historical collection practices that lacked consent. By returning these remains, the institution aligns itself with broader trends in the U.S. museum sector to prioritize ethical stewardship over permanent acquisition.
“The American Museum of Natural History will repatriate 2,700 hair clippings to Native American tribes.”
This repatriation is a direct result of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which requires federal institutions and museums receiving federal funding to inventory Native American human remains and cultural items. The fact that these 2,700 samples are only now being returned suggests a systemic failure in early compliance and illustrates the slow pace of restorative justice within major scientific institutions.
