This one-of-a-kind suitcase tells the surprising story of an artist, a wedding, and a people.
Native American art after 1600
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
Chilkat weaving has been practiced by Tlingit for hundreds of years; here modernity and tradition weave together.
Clarissa Rizal, Resilience Robe
Red Star annotated photographs to restore dignity and context to government-issue photographs of Crow chiefs.
Wendy Red Star, 1880 Crow Peace Delegation
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
What does Native American architecture look like today?
Contemporary Native American Architecture
Too many assumptions persist about Native American arts and cultures—start here to disentangle fact from fiction.
Terms and Issues in Native American Art
“Native American” is a broad term encompassing many diverse groups—learn how we organize this section.
About geography and chronological periods in Native ...
Smith created this in 1992, responding to the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in North America.
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Trade (Gifts for Trading ...
Wearers can toggle between the faces of animals and mythical beings—all with the tug of a string.
Transformation masks
Faced with mass production, Maria Martinez continued hand-making pottery as art rather than utilitarian vessels.
Puebloan: Maria Martinez, Black-on-black ceramic vessel
Coachella style has perpetuated stereotypes—but war bonnets have important cultural and spiritual significance.
Feathered war bonnet
Hide painting, a long tradition among Great Basin and Great Plains peoples, was adapted to appeal to tourists.
Eastern Shoshone: Hide Painting of the Sun ...
These bags imitated the ones European soldiers carried their ammunition in, and were worn during ceremonies.