Where did the Metropolitan Museum of Art get its Native American objects?
Only a small percentage of works donated by Charles and Valerie Diker have clear ownership histories. Experts say they could be stolen or fake
- This article is co-published with ProPublica, a non-profit newsroom that investigates abuses of power
Stepping into the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Shyanne Beatty was eager to view the Native American works that the art collectors Charles and Valerie Diker had been accumulating for nearly half a century. But as she entered the museum’s American wing that day in 2018, her excitement turned to shock as two wooden masks came into view.
Beatty, an Alaska Native, had worked on a radio documentary about the two Alutiiq objects and how they and others like them had been plundered from tribal land about 150 years ago. Now, the masks were on display in the biggest and most esteemed art museum in the western hemisphere. “It was super shocking to me,” she said.
