This manuscript contains about 180 illustrations of people, plants, and animals in New France (a French colony in North America)—including a unicorn
Native American art after c. 1500
Light and color take center stage in this soul illustration of the Oklohoma landscape where Echohawk and his family have lived for generations.
Brummett Echohawk, An Island of Redbuds on ...
Meant to carry a baby and created by a community of women, this cradleboard is an expression of love
Paukeigope (Kiowa), Cradleboard
Learn the story behind this totem pole that no longer stands
The story of the Oyster Man, a ...
What is a potlatch? And how is it related to this totem pole?
Haida potlatch pole
The body of this box is made of one piece of wood carefully bent into its four sides
Bentwood Boxes of the Northwest Coast peoples
Learn about two types of totem poles from the Tlingit people of the Pacific Northwest Coast that memorialize individuals who have passed
Tlingit mortuary and memorial totem poles
In the Arctic, where temperatures are below freezing for most of the year, warm clothing is of great importance.
Arctic clothing
A 19th-century totem pole from Old Kasaan village of the Haida helps us to understand the meaning and function of clan crests.
Haida Totem Pole, from Old Kasaan
Pueblo architecture reveals a close connection to the surrounding landscape and to Pueblo culture.
Pueblo architecture and its relationship to place
From quills to beads: the bandolier bag
The bandolier bag
This one-of-a-kind suitcase tells the surprising story of an artist, a wedding, and a people.
Nellie Two Bear Gates, Suitcase
What most American students learn about as Custer's Last Stand was the last great victory for the Lakota people.
Henry Oscar One Bull, Custer’s War
This outfit was likely made for a British lieutenant and gifted to him in a ritual exchange to show mutual respect.
Global trade and an 18th-century Anishinaabe outfit
Nampeyo found inspiration from the old to create a pottery style that was entirely new and highly sought after.
Nampeyo (Hopi-Tewa), polychrome jar
Six bears were required to create this necklace, meant imbue the Pawnee chief with protection and power.
Bear Claw Necklace (Pawnee)
Martinez’s distinctive style developed from studying Southwestern pottery and Modernist abstraction.
Julian Martinez, Buffalo Dancers
The artist used Spanish coins as models for the coats of arms woven into this basket in California, then New Spain.
Juana Basilia Sitmelelene, Presentation Basket (Chumash)
The Yup’ik peoples, in one of the world’s coldest climates, made these ceremonial masks during the long winters.
North Wind Mask
Too many assumptions persist about Native American arts and cultures—start here to disentangle fact from fiction.
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