CHICAGO If you stop by Chicago's Field Museum right now and find yourself in the Alsdorf Hall of Northwest Coast and Arctic Peoples, or the Robert R. McCormick Halls of the Ancient Americas, you will notice something about the display cases: Several are covered up. That in itself is not unusual — who hasn’t been to a museum and seen a display case displaying nothing? What’s unusual is the .
Field Museum covers displays due to new rules about Native artifacts chicagotribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chicagotribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
If you stop by the Field Museum right now and find yourself in the Alsdorf Hall of Northwest Coast and Arctic Peoples, or the Robert R. McCormick Halls of the Ancient Americas, you will notice something about the display cases: Several are covered up. That in itself is not unusual — who hasn’t been to a museum and seen a display case displaying nothing? What’s unusual is the reason: On Jan. .
As new federal law requirements went live last week, museums and institutions holding Native American human remains and artifacts across the country scrambled to understand and implement new changes. On Jan. 9, three days before the new federal regulations went into effect, Chicago’s Field Museum covered several display cases containing cultural items from Native communities throughout the United States. “Pending consultation with the represented communities, we have covered all cases that we believe contain cultural items that could be subject to these regulations,” the museum wrote in a statement.