Cultural institutions reflect current issues of society.
Both museums and schools are wrestling with new sensitivities and concerns with cultural diversity. For instance, at a recent Smithsonian symposium on Contemporary American Indian Art, several Native American artists asked why their paintings and sculpture are rarely shown at fine arts museums, but are more likely to be exhibited at anthropology and natural history museums. In directing an alternative school for Native American children in Chicago, June Sark Heinrich found many misnomers and false ideas presented by teachers as they instructed students about the history and the heritage of Native peoples. The D'Arcy McNickle Center for the History of the American Indian at the Newberry Library in Chicago recently began designing a sample checklist for evaluating books about American Indian history. Teacher's Corner combines the two approaches.