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Why is MPM moving? 

There are several reasons why MPM is pursuing a new facility, but the most important is that the Museum will not be able to sustain operations into the future in the current building.

The building, constructed in the early 1960s, has approximately $100 million deferred capital maintenance. Milwaukee County, despite its best efforts, simply does not have funds available to maintain the building — akin to the situation at the Domes and other county-owned facilities.

History and way of life before the arrival of Europeans

MPM – November 1967

A tribe is an Indian group which possesses certain qualities and characteristics that make it a unique cultural, social, and political entity.

The nature of what constitutes an Indian tribe and the very nature of tribes have changed considerably over the course of centuries, but certain characteristics have remained.

Group outings are returning!

To begin planning your group visit, please submit a Group Sales Request.

Submit Group Visit Request

The Oneida are unique among Wisconsin Indian tribes in terms of their treaty history, which dates back to the post-Revolutionary period before the establishment of the federal government.

They are also one of the few tribes to have made treaties with an individual state --  in this case, New York.

Cosmic Curiosities

“We choose to go to the Moon! We choose to go to the Moon... We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
-  John F. Kennedy, American President

The two major donors who made this collection possible are Dr. Gilbert Schneider and Dr. Robert Ritzenthaler.

Fredrick S. Perkins

Fredrick S. Perkins was born in December 1832 in Trenton Falls, New York. Four years later, in 1836, his father Origen Perkins moved the family to Burlington, Wisconsin, where they established the first residential home in township, as well as a log tavern and general store. At the age of twenty, Fredrick went to New York City and enrolled in the American Academy of Design, where he honed his skills as a talented artist.

In Woodland Indian rituals, ceremonies, and religious observances, tobacco is the unifying thread of communication between humans and the spiritual powers.

The manidog (spirits) are said to be extremely fond of tobacco and that the only way they could get it was from the Indians, either by smoke from a pipe or by offerings of dry tobacco. According to tradition, the Indians received tobacco as a gift from Wenebojo who had taken it from a mountain giant and then given the seed to his brothers.

Termination was a program championed by many federal policy makers between the late 1940s and early 1960s.

The goal of Termination was to end Indian tribes' status as sovereign nations. The program was, in some sense, a step backward in U.S. Indian policy because, during the 1930s, the Commissioner of Indian affairs, John Collier, wanted to empower Indians and end blatantly racist policies the United States had instituted throughout its history.