Alternate Perceptions Magazine, March 2025
Indian Temple Mound Museum in Fort Walton Beach, Florida Closes for Renovations
by: Dr. Greg Little
Like many other museums on mound sites, the Indian Temple Mound Museum in Fort Walton Beach, Florida has temporarily closed for physical renovations as well as massive exhibit changes. Updated repatriation regulations of the 1990 NAGPRA (Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act) have caused many museums to close their Native American displays, remove all artifacts associated with burial mounds, and return burial and "sacred" artifacts to tribal authorities. An official review by authorized repatriation experts from a recognized tribe is required for all artifacts that are in storage or on display. This has caused the temporary closing of many museums.
The Fort Walton Beach Museum displayed many impressive artifacts including this unique "Weedon Island" piece. It was found in over 100 pieces (sherds) over a two-year excavation at the mound. The museum had materials and displays covering 12,000 years of Native American and local history and over 1000 artifacts.
The removal of the "sacred" and burial artifacts is required by the updated NAGPRA regulations, but is controversial, even to some Native American tribes. In some cases, such as artifacts once displayed at the Moundville, Alabama Mound Complex Museum, artifacts were removed from the museum and reburied at the site. Some professionals assert this is a suppression of the ancient Native American culture that once dominated North America. Others see it as honoring the culture. Archaeologists, colleges & universities, and "public" museums cannot even show photos of such artifacts without tribal approval. It is a complicated and evolving issue.
