Native American Institutions and the Defunding of Agencies

Museums’ Futures in Peril

By Kateri Smith (Blackfoot/Métis/Anatolian Greek Descent)

We live in an unprecedented time in the United States, one that may irrevocably damage the cultural life of America. There has been widespread targeting of museums with a focus on BIPOC, which includes Native Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and more communities of color.

Background and Current Situation

Some of the most recent examples are harrowing and have sent the museum and art world into a state of near panic across the country. The Santa Fe New Mexican announced on April 10, 2025, that a $900,000 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant to the School for Advanced Research (SAR) Indian Art Research Center was terminated. This grant would improve the storage for the collection focused on Pueblo pottery and textiles and other Native American art, including those from its long-running artist-in-residence program. SAR was told, “Your grant’s immediate termination is necessary to safeguard the interests of the federal government” (Dodd). SAR is not the only one that lost its funding, the Museum of African American History in Massachusetts will lose an estimated 16 percent of its funding and was told that they were “no longer consistent with the agency’s priorities and no longer serves the interest of the United States’’ (Fonseca).

NEH is a program funded by an annual appropriation of the U.S. Congress, not the executive branch. The NEH was formerly headed by Shelly C. Lowe (Diné) who was pushed out in March “under the direction of President Trump” and replaced by interim director Michael McDonald (not the singer) who was ordered to “return” $75 million on behest of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) (Rickert). The cause for rescinding and terminating grants, not to mention the lack of funding for new grants, seems to be directly related to two executive orders.

Executive Order (EO) 14190: “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” and EO 14253: “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” are the foundations for dismantling the cultural institutions and echo the belief that BIPOC cultural institutions and institutions that represent, serve, or research minority groups “indoctrinate” America’s youth into hating the United States and themselves. But this is not your grandfather sitting in his recliner complaining about today’s youth. This is the federal government’s current administration unilaterally making the political and funding decisions of a country.

The U.S. President has started referring to the history of communities of color and the efforts to recognize them, in a 2020 speech at the National Archives Museum:

“The left has warped, distorted, and defiled the American story with deceptions, falsehoods, and lies. There is no better example than the New York Times’ totally discredited 1619 Project. This project rewrites American history to teach our children that we were founded on the principle of oppression, not freedom” (Trump).

Any person who has studied history will know there is no black and white only shades of grey. In fact, the speech this passage refers to the U.S. Constitution which is a living document and has been changed over time to include communities of color and minority groups (e.g. 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments) shows that the leadership has not done their homework.

This seeming lack of knowledge and appreciation for all aspects of American history has meant that, in the past week, 100 to 500 museums have been affected by grant terminations. This freezing of previously allocated grant funding will have far-reaching impacts. The consequences are yet to be seen.

What Can Happen?

There are many programs, exhibitions, and improvements that museums will not be able to do now that NEH is only allowed to fund programs politically aligned with the current administration. This could be anything from reducing children’s activities and programs that serve low-income and minority youth to not providing funding to make improvements to object storage. Funding freezes can even force museums to push back digitizing and conservation efforts within collections, leaving some of the most imperiled art and objects with permanent damage. The lack of funding could limit public access to collections due to the moratorium on grants to help museums digitize their collections and make them available. These especially impact collections related to Native American and African-American art.

How Can You Help?

Visit your local museums, donate and volunteer if possible, and show up to events and activities. If the public shows that museums, cultural centers, and research institutions are important to our society, they make a case for the funding of these institutions. You can also visit other civic institutions, including your local public library and community centers. All organizations that serve the people and receive federal or state grant funding are now under threat of cuts within the same executive order. It is unknown if states and counties can make budgets available to cover the grant losses.

Citations

• Dodd, Cormac. “Santa Fe Humanities Research Center Loses Grant amid Trump Cuts.” Santa Fe New Mexican. April 10, 2025 | link
• Fonseca, Camilo. “Museum of African American History among Institutions to Lose Federal Funding.” The Boston Globe. April 10, 2025 | link
• Rickert, Levi. “Trump Removes Navajo Shelly Lowe as Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities.” Native News Online. March 13, 2025 | link
• Trump, Donald J. “Remarks by President Trump at the White House Conference on American History.” National Archives and Records Administration. September 17, 2020 | link

Links for further information and organizations to support:

• American Alliance of Museums (AAM) | link
• “Updates and Resources on the Impacts of Executive Orders,” AAM | link
• Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums | link
• Indian Arts Research Center, School for Advanced Research | link
• “Defend Civic Institutions.” Rural Organizing Project | link
• “Executive order threatens future of IMLS.” Sequim Gazette | link
• Kateri Smith | LinkedIn