Our Mission: Since the 1893 World Columbian Exposition, our organization has aimed to connect people to the natural environment and human history.

This paid, one-year Fellowship, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is designed specifically for Native American recent graduates with lived cultural experience who are interested in careers in museum collections management, with opportunities for further study in registration and conservation. Fellows will be provided mentorship by staff on pursuing a career with a focus of their choosing in museums and will be introduced to other professionals in the field.

Applicants will be considered for a start date in early 2025. The Fellow will work directly with the Native North American collections on-site at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, and will spend time working on the following topics in collaboration with Native community members, the Field's Conservation Cultural Liaison and Collections Managers, and other staff in the Conservation, Registration, and Repatriation sections. Fellows will gain hands-on experience in managing and preserving items in museum collections. A particular focus of the Fellowships will be connecting descendant communities to the collections.These connections may be made through visits and tours (both virtual and in-person) in the museum’s collections storage area, online outreach, and special events. Successful candidates will gain both practical and theoretical knowledge of current museum practice and will help improve the Museum’s cultural competence in the care of Native American collections. Support will be provided for relocation expenses, conference travel expenses, and moving forward in a museum career after the Fellowship has ended. The Fellows may participate in other duties outlined below.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Collection management (including building custom storage boxes, organizing items in storage, and implementing traditional care guidelines)
• Preventive conservation (including environmental monitoring and control, integrated pest management, and custom housing)
• Researching item provenience Identifying and documenting item construction methods and materials
• Written and photographic documentation
• Providing guidance, or obtaining guidance where applicable, on culturally appropriate descriptions of items, their materials, and their provenience
• Assisting with research into, and responding to inquiries about, the collections
• Testing of display case and item materials
• Assisting with the installation and de-installation of items in exhibitions
• Assisting with preparing items for loan to other institutions
• Use of Collections Management database systems
• Participation in training workshops

Qualifications:

• Enrolled members or direct descendants of federally- and state-recognized Native American tribes and Alaska Native groups are strongly encouraged to apply. Qualified applicants should be recent graduates (Associate, BA/BSc, or MA/MSc) with lived Indigenous experience, demonstrable cultural competencies, an interest in a career in museums, and the ability to work with diverse Native American communities
• High frequency of strenuous activity lifting heavy items, moving carts, using box cutters, hot melt glue guns, and sewing machines to construct collections storage trays, etc
• Ability to work alone or in a team situation required
• Must be able to work with collections and records for long hours
• Successful candidates will have excellent verbal and written communication skills

Please contact mellonconnections@fieldmuseum.org with questions related to this job posting.

Important Note: In order to protect the health and safety of our employees, guests and their families, the Field Museum is requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Requests for exemptions from the vaccine will not be considered as given the nature of this position, we are unable to provide an accommodation for anyone who has not been vaccinated.

The Field Museum is an equal opportunity workplace and employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, Veteran status, or any other protected class. We strive to create a working environment that is free of all forms of discrimination and one that promotes human dignity and mutual respect among all staff. We believe every member of our organization enriches our diversity by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, to identify challenges, and to discover, design, and deliver solutions.

The Field Museum strives to ensure that our career website and recruiting process are accessible to all. If you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our online application, or if you require a reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to accessibility@fieldmuseum.org.