Long, long ago, people did not live on the Earth. Instead, they lived in the Sky World, and things were very similar to what we think of as life on Earth. There were people, birds, animals, and everything else in the Sky World.
Around 800 A.D. Late Woodland Indian cultures in the Midwest made a shift to more extensive maize (corn) horticulture and by 1000 A.D. had organized a complex society referred to by archaeologists as Middle Mississippian. This distinct cultural name is derived from its development in the central part of the Mississippi River valley.
American military history, American decorative art, American textile history, and communications/typewriter history are well-represented collections, and firearms technology is a specialty. Additional collections include historic to modern (1600-present) cultures of Europe, Middle East, and Asia.
Peter French donated 51 Ndyuka artifacts to the MPM in 1945, constituting the vast majority of Suriname artifacts in the collection. These items included wooden food stirrers, combs, hammocks, calabash utensils, a baton, a laundry beater, and a white clay (pemba) sample. Unfortunately, not much is known about the life or work of this particular source.
Despite changes wrought by contact with Euro-American cultures and societies, Native people in the Great Lakes region have maintained a strong sense of communal life and family organization, and have persevered in many traditional ways of life while simultaneously accommodating themselves to American society and its economy.
Schlitz Audubon Nature Center is 185 acres of woodlands, prairies, various types of wetlands, and lake beach natural communities. Surface waters include ponds, Mystery Lake, and Lake Michigan. The diversity of ecosystems creates many ecotones that can attract a number of organisms.
Current collection counts are based on inventories of prime collections (firearms, business machines, textiles, etc.), high number counts for individual catalogue series, and estimates for items catalogued in the Anthropology ledgers.