Group Visits
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To begin planning your group visit, please submit a Group Sales Request.
To begin planning your group visit, please submit a Group Sales Request.
In the late 1870s, U.S. Senator Daniel Voorhees was given a Mandan man's shirt by a member of an Indian delegation to Washington D.C. The shirt was later passed on to Professor John D. Mack of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, who sold it to the Milwaukee Public Museum in 1921. This elaborate tunic style garment consists of two buckskins sewn together. Four large extensions of fabric hang down from the central and most decorated portion, and extensive bead and quillwork adorn the shoulders of the garment. Based on the amount of porcupine quillwork versus beadwork present, it can be determined that this shirt was made prior to the reservation period of the Mandan people, probably between 1845 and 1879.
This Crow gun case was collected by Colonel J. J. Upham, a Milwaukee native, during his military service in the mid- to late 1800s on the Western frontier. Upham collected a variety of American Indian materials while stationed at military forts. His collection was donated to the Museum by his wife shortly after his death in 1898. The gun case is an excellent and rare example of Crow leather craftsmanship and bead working ability.
They practiced some agriculture, but it was definitely of secondary importance and consisted mostly of the Indian staples -- corn, beans, and squash. Wresting a living from the forest and prairie demanded a great deal of time and effort. It necessitated considerable mobility, with outlying camps and special purpose gathering and processing stations.
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.