It's a new look for the American Museum of Natural History's oldest gallery.

The revitalized Northwest Coast Hall reopens to the public on May 13. It is devoted to the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, curated by the museum's Peter Whitely in collaboration with curators from various Northwest Coast Communities.

"It's their world, their ancestors are speaking to us they are helping us with their languages, with their knowledge, kindness, to reinvent what it means to be a cultural hall in a museum in the 21st Century,' said Lauri Halderman, Vice President for Exhibition at the Upper West Side museum.

What You Need To Know

  • The Northwest Coast Hall at the American Museum of Natural History reopens on May 13

  • It focuses on the indigenous communities of the Pacific Northwest Coast

  • The hall has been revitalized, curated by the museum's Peter Whitely in collaboration with consulting curators from the region

  • The 63-foot-long Great Canoe has been relocated to the hall for the first time in more than 70 years

Among the more than one-thousand items is the well known 63-foot-long Great Canoe, relocated to the hall for the first time in more than 70 years. It has been at ground level just outside the hall.

There are monumental carvings, masks, intricate weavings plus works by present day artists of the region.

"It's powerful to be here and to be able to speak about who we are today, but also to have the strength of our ancestors supporting that," said Megan Humchitt, part of the Heiltsuk Nation in Bella Bella, British Columbia in Canada, and among those community members visiting the exhibition.

The consulting curators, seeing the reimagined hall for the first time in person call it a big step forward in making sure their story is told, considering the impacts of colonialism on these cultures.

"My people were imprisoned for practicing everything that you witnesses today during the opening. The songs, the speeches, relatives of mine were imprisoned for gift giving," said Trevor Issac, who traveled from Vancouver Island.

"We wanted to make sure that you can hear our voices saying that this our culture, we are still here and it's not a static ancient culture, it's old but it's a modern living culture that we still hold onto," said David Boxley of the Tsimshian people of Alaska.