Congressional Hearing Challenges Smithsonian’s Land Acknowledgment Narrative

Rep. Tim Burchett began a congressional hearing by showing footage of Anthea Hartig, director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, delivering land acknowledgments that thank specific tribes for “their territory.” Burchett contended that this language suggests Americans are unlawfully occupying the country and pressed Hartig on whether the museum would ever donate property to those tribes, a query she dismissed as off-topic.

Throughout the session, Hartig and Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch defended their approach as nuanced, while critics cited a museum video that plainly states the United States committed genocide against Native peoples. The hearing also referenced a recent White House critique that accused the Smithsonian of portraying the nation’s founding as fundamentally oppressive and a “stolen land” narrative, a view now echoed in educational guides from the National Education Association. The debate underscores a growing cultural clash over how American history should be presented in public institutions.