When the American Indian Museum began negotiating earlier this year with Perot about possible relocation, both Governor Mario M. Cuomo and Mayor Edward I. Koch pledged to garner $56 million to keep the museum in New York.

In addition, the American Museum of Natural History offered the Indian museum $30 million if it would merge with the American Museum of Natural History, also in New York.

Although the total $36 million topped Perot's offer, Indian museum officials had other ideas.

Roland W. Force, director of the Indian museum, said he had no guarantees that the state or the city could produce the funds Cuomo and Koch had promised, since they are subject to legislative approval.

He also expressed concern over merging with the Natural History museum, thereby losing the long-standing autonomy of the Indian museum.

While lamenting the cramped quarters his museum now has, Force emphasized the attractiveness of the cavernous museum Perot promised to build in Dallas, where Force said virtually all the Indian museum's artifacts could be displayed.

But the New York State Attorney General has also stepped in. A spokesman for the office said Atty. Gen. Robert Abrams would oppose in court any out-of-state move of the Indian museum.

The spokesman said the museum was bound by a charitable trust to operate in New York City. He said the court should only approve the move if the museum demonstrated an inability to carry out the dictums of the trust.

Citing the offers from Cuomo, Koch and the Natural History museum, the spokesman said there is no indication the Indian museum cannot carry out its trust.

Officials contacted would not comment on whether the museum would fight the state in court. They would not speculate on the likely outcome of such a court battle. It remains to be seen what effect the New York deal will have on Harvard's dealines with Perot