They are not scholars and they are not asking to have access to storage, only the galleries and grounds. Yes. that would indeed be a deal breaker. Thank you for your input.
Jerrie Clarke
Director
Lost City Museum
PO Box 2507
Overton, NV 89040
(702) 397-2193
http://museums.nevadaculture.org
--------------------------------------------
On Mon, 3/30/15, Stephen Nowlin <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Letting Paranormal Groups Use the Museum
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Monday, March 30, 2015, 12:00 PM
I presume the
³paranormal groups² in question are not made up of
anthropological or archeological scholars, but
rather of believers in
occult or
supernatural phenomena associated with current and past
rituals
and artifacts (apologies if that¹s
the wrong assumption). If your museum
embraces those beliefs and your policies allow
for persons without
academic or scholarly
credentials to have access to the collection, then
allowing such groups access would be in keeping
with the museum mission.
If however the
museum limits access to qualified scholars or sees its
role
as educating the public about how
history and myth intertwine from an
objective academic and scientific perspective,
I would be wary of allowing
the collection
to be used in a way that might distort such a mission in
the public perception.
Stephen Nowlin
Director,
Williamson Gallery
Art Center College of
Design
On 3/30/15, 11:14 AM, "Jerrie
Clarke"
<[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>This is directed
to museums that hold ancient and not so ancient Native
>American objects, including funerary items,
as part of the collection or
>in
safe-keeping for Native groups; though anyone can
respond.
>
>Almost a
year ago, I was contacted by 4 different paranormal groups
who
>wanted to come late at night to do
readings and filming in the museum. I
>was uneasy about letting them in and just
about the time that I was
>feeling a
little bombarded and told them Œno¹, Dave Harvey offered
his
>on-line paranormal course. I signed up and
now better understand just
>what
paranormal investigators do, what they may want to do with
the
>findings, and how I can allow or
restrict what they share (thanks again,
>Dave). He shared articles and policies and
I¹ve been working on our
>policy, as
part of our use of museum by outside groups policy, that
I¹d
>like to finish this week.
>
>However, I¹m still a
little concerned and our curator has some strong
>concerns. The curator and I have both
previously worked in museums where
>there
is an agreement about who can access these kinds of objects
and how
>they are handled; even how one
should behave when in their presence. The
>curator¹s concerns have to do with respect
and sensitivity of the objects
>and the
ancestors themselves. The hill on which Lost City Museum
sits is
>an excavated Ancestral Puebloan
site so there were living quarters and
>burials here. The artifacts on display and
in storage were found in the
>excavations
along the river that runs through the valley.
>
>I¹d like to know how
other museums address this kind of request. Do you
>have a museum use policy specifically
addressing paranormal groups?
>
>Jerrie
>
>Jerrie Clarke
>Director
>Lost City
Museum
>PO Box 807
>Overton, NV 89040
>(702)
397-2193
>
>=========================================================
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