Penn Museum opens Native North America Gallery after two-year overhaul

"We made a conscious decision to not shy away from representing the moments of rupture, loss and betrayal that Native communities have faced; these stories are essential," Williams says. "But we also wanted to highlight resilience and strength within those histories."

"The work they were doing was curatorial, and we wanted that reflected in how we referred to them-not just as a symbolic shift but as a structural one. That language matters; it shapes how everyone else in the institution sees and treats the collaboration."

Penn Museum in Philadelphia will open a new 2,000-square-foot Native North America Gallery on 22 November after two years of planning and development. An all-day opening celebration will feature performances, workshops, talks, demonstrations and storytelling to inaugurate the long-term exhibition. The gallery replaces a 2014 exhibition that aimed to present four regions but felt fragmented. Curators Lucy Fowler Williams and Megan C. Kassabaum collaborated closely with eight Native American curators who helped determine which stories should be told and how. The exhibition intentionally presents moments of rupture, loss and betrayal alongside resilience and strength. The museum intentionally recognized Native collaborators as curators rather than advisers or consultants to effect structural change in institutional language and practice.

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