Sneak Preview: Native Truths Exhibition at Field Museum Reveals Vibrancy of Contemporary Native People

CHICAGO — The Native American community was afforded a sneak preview on Saturday of the new Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories exhibition at the Field Museum in Chicago. 

The exhibition is filled with of colorful art and videos and informative narrative panels that depict the vibrancy of contemporary Native Americans. This exhibit replaces a Native American exhibit that was opened during the 1950s.

From the comments from some of the Native Americans who toured the Native Truths exhibit, the Field Museum did not disappoint. 

Caitlin Jacobs (Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina), a medical student at Northwestern, was impressed. “I just felt like it was about time, and it's really nice to see it all come together. And I appreciate how much diversity there is in the types of exhibits because I feel like it could have easily gone with just, like, the Great Lakes," Jacobs said. 

Starla Thompson (Forest Band of Potawatomi) feels it is time for Native Americans to tell their own stories. She feels Native Truths accomplished this. 

“Telling our stories is really important and something that hasn't been done. And I was hoping that that's what I would see here today, is an accurate telling of our stories from our perspective – not from an anthropologist’s perspective or a museum's perspective – and so far, that's what I've seen. It's Indigenous people telling their stories, their culture, their family stories. That' s really precious," Thompson commented. “Indigenous people see those [artifacts] as relatives, and they’re alive. They're alive and they’re living. So it's a whole different way to look at the world.”