Anthropology Ethnology
North American Ethnology
Northwest Coast mask depicting killer whale on sun. MPM Ethnology collections 17321.
Janus mask, Sierra Leone, MPM Ethnology collections 63246.
MPM holds outstanding ethnological collections with worldwide scope. About 62% of current holdings represent North American groups. Particularly strong collections represent Great Lakes tribes, groups from the American Southwest, especially the Hopi, Plains groups, especially the Sioux and Blackfeet, Northwest Coast groups, especially the Kwakiutl, West Coast groups including the Pomo, Washo and Paiute, as well as a variety of Iroquoian, Subarctic and Arctic groups.
Groups represented include the Abnaki, Achomawi, Acoma, Alabama, Apache, Arapaho, Arikara, Assiniboin, Attacopa (Atakapa), Bannock, Blackfeet, Brule Sioux, Caddo, California, Catawba, Cayuga, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chickasaw, Chippewa (Ojibwa), Chitimacha, Choctaw, Chumash, Cochiti, Comanche, Coyetero Apache, Crow, Dakota Sioux, Delaware, Digger, Fox, Flathead, Gros Ventre, Haida, Haliwa, Havasupai, Hidatsa, Hoonah, Hopi and Hopi-Tewa, Houma, Hupa, Huron, Iowa, Iroquois, Isleta, Jemez, Jicarilla Apache, Kawaiisu, Kickapoo, Kiowa, Klamath, Klikitat, Koasati, Laguna, Lipan Apache, Mahican, Maidu, Makah, Mandan, Maricopa, Mascouten, Mattaponi, Menominee, Mescalero Apache, Miami, Missouri, Miwok, Modoc, Mohave, Mohawk, Mono, Montauk, Navajo, Nez Perce, Oglala Sioux, Omaha, Oneida, Onondaga, Osage, Oto, Ottawa, Paiute, Pamunkey, Panamint, Papago, Passamaquoddy, Paviotso, Pawnee, Penobscot, Peoria, Picuris, Piegan, Pima, Plains Cree, Pomo, Ponca, Potawatomi, Puyallup, Quapaw, Quinault, Salish, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santa Domingo, Santa Ynez, Santee Sioux, Sauk, Scaticook, Seminole, Seneca, Shawnee, Shinnecock, Shoshone, Stockbridge, Tenino, Tesuque, Teton Sioux, Tewa, Tlingit, Tonkawa, Tsimshian, Tulare, Tunica, Tuscarora, Umatilla, Ute, Wampanoag, Wasco, Washo, Wichita, Winnebago or Ho-Chunk, Wintun, Yamasee, Yankton Dakota (Sioux), Yokuts, Yuchi, Yuki, Yuma, Yurok, Zia, Zuni as well as pan-Indian and regionally identified collections.
Particularly significant are MPM's Northwest Coast collections, especially from the Kwakiutl, the James Howard collection of pow-wow outfits, A.B. Skinner's collections among the Ioway, Otoe, Sauk, Mascouten and Kickapoo, and S.A. Barrett's early twentieth century collections of food materials (including both plant and animal products) from among the Hopi and various Northwest Coast groups. The Museum's collection of Woodlands basketry and textiles is exceptional, and formed the core for a series of recent studies in native material culture. Individual highlights of the collection include the Red Hawk Ledger Book, an unusual Kwakiutl thunderbird mask and suit set, an exceptional Kwakiutl skin/pukwis mask, a series of complete costumes from various Plains and Plateau groups, and Iowa clan pipes.
Latin American Ethnology
Central and Mesoamerican materials represent about 7% of ethnology holdings, and include important collections from the Caribbean, Mexico, and Guatemala. MPM's carnival mask, Guatemalan Maya, Tarahumara (mainly the Zingg-Bennett collection) and the LaTorre Mexican Kickapoo collections are particularly noteworthy. South American collections represent nearly 5% of ethnology holdings, and focus on rainforest and Andean cultures, with special strengths in featherwork and items of personal adornment.
African Ethnology
More than 15% of the ethnology holdings are from Africa, mainly sub-Saharan portions of the continent. The masking traditions of West Africa are well represented, as are items of adornment from East Africa and items relating to religion and magic from Central Africa. Ironwork and edged weapons are also particularly well represented. Strengths of the collections include the Cudahy-Massee collections, the Antisdel and related collections from Angola and the Congo, the Ritzenthaler collections from the Cameroons, and the Museum's rare and well-documented collection of Mambila material.
Pacific and Oceanic Ethnology
Pacific and Oceania material represents about 11% of the ethnology holdings, with strong collections of Polynesian tapa cloth, Australian bark paintings (especially the Waterman-Laskin collection), and a variety of materials from the Philippines, most dating to the time of the 1903 World's Fair. In addition to strong general collections from Oceania, the Morton May Sepik River collection and the Meinecke New Ireland collection are particularly noteworthy.
Old World Ethnology
Ethnology also houses an important collection of Sami (Lapp) material (ca. 2.3% of total ethnology holdings). Remaining Old World material is generally cataloged through the MPM History Section.
Chippewa woman tying wild rice in northern Wisconsin. From the American Indian photograph collection, MPM negative 50090.
MPM field crew at the Spencer Lake Mound, 47Bt2, 1936, from Anthropology field records collection. Crew includes W.C. McKern, Ralph Linton, A.C. Spaulding, Joffre Coe and George Quimby-all nationally prominent anthropologists in later years. MPM negative 416637.