But they're still digging up graves and tombs in Africa and the museums are filled with African artifacts: The American Museum of Natural History this weekend will close two major halls exhibiting Native American objects – galleries dedicated to the Eastern Woodlands and the Great Plains – its leaders said Friday, in a dramatic response to new federal regulations that require museums to obtain consent from tribes before displaying or performing research on cultural items.

Museums around the U.S. have been covering up displays as curators scramble to determine whether they can be shown under the new regulations. The Field Museum in Chicago covered some display cases, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University said it would remove all funerary belongings from exhibition, and the Cleveland Museum of Art has covered up some cases.

The changes are the result of a concerted effort by the Biden administration to speed up the repatriation of Native American remains, funerary objects and other sacred items.