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The Milwaukee Public Museum has one of the largest Tarahumara collections in the United States.

Comprising 376 items, the majority of the items were collected during the 1930s –- a time when European trends were just beginning to affect Tarahumara material culture. An exhibit in the Museum located on the third floor within the Middle America exhibit displays only a small amount of the total collection. This section provides a more comprehensive view of the Milwaukee Public Museum pieces.

These 50-minute, guided explorations take place wihtin the museums galleries. Each program includes hands-on, interactive experiences connecting exhibits and topics to your classroom curriculum. 

Lesson Guides: Click on each topic title to open a printable lesson guide.

Availability: These programs are available Monday-Friday at 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. *subject to availability

Requirements:

MPM's curatorial and collections staff have selected more than 100 important, unique or interesting objects to highlight from the more than 4 million items in the Museum's care. These items reflect the depth and breadth of the collections.  

Many of the items featured below are not on exhibit due to their fragile nature. One of the Museum's primary goals is to preserve objects for generations to come.

As a virtual exhibit, we can share with people around the world our most rare and intriguing items without harm to them.

With the exception of dogs, Native people in the Great Lakes region had no domesticated animals, so they depended on their own power for transportation.

Walking was the most common way of moving, and personal possessions were limited largely to what the people could carry themselves.

That the MPM endures as one of the finest institutions of its kind in the world is due in no small part to efforts of the Museum’s first Curator of Anthropology, Samuel A. Barrett (1879-1965). Barrett, born in Conway, Alaska, was a student of University of California anthropologist Alfred Kroeber and the first person to receive a PhD in anthropology west of the Mississippi (Lurie 1983: 48).

Photo by
Father Mark de Silva

Darting through the forest on an island in the Caribbean, a previously unidentified species of lizard forages for ants and termites in rotten wood and leaves.

Thanks to the efforts of two scientists, this tiny, colorfully spotted lizard finally has a name. But its future may not be as bright as its scales.

Peace Treaties

The Ho-Chunk signed a total of six treaties with the United States. The first three were efforts to create peace with the United States and neighboring tribes. In 1816, the first treaty between the United States and the Ho-Chunk was signed to end hostilities heightened by the War of 1812 in which the two nations were on opposing sides. After the war, the Ho-Chunk and other Midwestern tribes began to fight among themselves, with war parties avenging past wrongs and fighting to secure new hunting territories.

The Third Floor Mezzanine (Pre-Columbian America) is permanently closed to the public as part of the next phase of packing for our new museum. Take a virtual tour of the gallery here.

Mesoamerica, a term used for the community of cultures found in southern Mexico and northern Central America from 2500 B.C.