The Museum of Us, founded in 1915 as the San Diego Museum of Man, houses significant collections of Native American cultural items, human remains, and objects from Indigenous communities worldwide.
In 2020, at the height of the racial justice protests following the murder of George Floyd, the museum underwent a dramatic rebrand. It changed its name to the Museum of Us, issued a public apology for its past practices, and announced a sweeping commitment to decolonization. The director declared that the institution would prioritize repatriation, community collaboration, and ethical stewardship. The museum was widely hailed as a model for transformation.
But in 2025, the museum laid off several key staff members from its decolonization and repatriation teams. The official reason was budget shortfalls. But they were the people who had been building relationships with tribal nations, conducting provenance research, and facilitating returns. They were the engine of the decolonization work that the museum had publicly championed.
Tribal nations that had been in active consultation with the museum were not notified in advance. They learned of the layoffs through news reports or from the staff members themselves, who reached out after losing their jobs.
For context, the museum had survived far worse financial years without gutting its decolonization team.
This pattern suggests a deeper truth that the museum will never admit. The decolonization team was, most likely, not laid off because of budget shortfalls, but because such public promises made by this particular institution made people at the top of the mountain quite uncomfortable.
The Museum of Us is not an outlier. It is an example of a broader pattern in the museum sector. Institutions announce ambitious decolonization initiatives, often accompanied by name changes, mission rewrites, and public apologies.
