Ethical Stewardship in Action
Ethical Stewardship in Action
The history of anthropology and museums is a story of colonialism.
The Peabody Museum acknowledges its direct role in the objectification of Indigenous peoples and the taking of cultural heritage, and apologizes to Indigenous, descendant, and Diaspora families and communities for its role in these histories. We address our past while working to build a more equitable future. Ethical Stewardship is at the heart of our mission. The Museum’s work towards more ethical and inclusive stewardship are found here, including reorienting practice, research into museum and provenance histories, as well as community-based projects and fellowships.
Principles of Ethical Stewardship
The Peabody Museum pledges its ongoing and sustained commitment to the ethical stewardship of the collections in its care. Ethical stewardship describes a set of values and practices that promote historical reflection while directing museums to become agents of a more equitable and inclusive future. This entails building and nurturing respectful, open, and reciprocal relationships with descendant communities and other heritage stakeholders. As stewards, we are committed to sharing authority with those communities to implement culturally responsive care and interpretation of collections.
The first phase of our ethical stewardship implementation focused on creating a new operational framework, Ethical Stewardship, to guide the Museum in its ongoing commitment. Additionally, we focused on updating policies and procedures via standing committees charged with the ongoing work of bringing our past practice into alignment with this new vision.
The next phase of our ethical stewardship implementation focuses our capacity and resources on NAGPRA compliance, to enable the Peabody to meet its compliance requirements under this Federal law, while setting the stage for future engagement on a global scale.
We understand ethical stewardship at the Peabody Museum to be an enduring institutional commitment. As stated in 2021, we:
- Recognize and sustain the rights and interests of the peoples whose cultural heritage is in the museum;
- Acknowledge and address the structural legacies of colonial and racial biases at the museum;
- Engage in transparent and honest dialogue with the diverse peoples for whom the collections hold meaning;
- Center the agency and resilience of Indigenous communities in historical and contemporary narratives;
- Privilege community values, knowledge and voices;
- Share authority with communities to ensure culturally appropriate museum practices.
These principles are central to all Museum decision-making, and we commit to ongoing reflection to ensure that our practices continue to align with them. Please address comments or questions to pmcollections@fas.harvard.edu.
Exhibitions in Transition
Our exhibitions are always changing as we continue to consult with Indigenous, descendant, and diaspora communities to seek their preferences for representation in Peabody galleries. In the Museum’s galleries you will find “Ethical Stewardship in Action” signage providing information about our ethical stewardship values and practices and promoting historical reflection.
In early 2024, exhibitions were closed for several weeks for planned annual maintenance and curatorial updates, which aligned with the release of the new NAGPRA regulations and its duty of care requirements and the Museum’s ethical stewardship commitment. During that time, the Museum reviewed all Native American items on exhibition in the Hall of the North American Indian, Resetting the Table, and All the World is Here removing any items with potential cultural sensitivity concerns.
Please visit our exhibitions page to see more.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about the Peabody Museum's ethical stewardship practices, contact us.