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This belt was obtained along the Kuskokwim River in southwestern Alaska. The Unegkumiut, Kiatagmiut, and Ingalik groups are the most likely sources for its production. Three hundred and fifty one sets of caribou incisor teeth are attached to leather, with a fringe of Russian trade beads and fox canine teeth. The belts were made by men but worn by women as displays of the man's hunting ability. Each set of teeth represents one caribou. These belts were usually family heirlooms that were thought to have curing powers which increased with the age of the belt. This belt, the only one of its kind in the Milwaukee Public Museum's collections, is approximately 300 years old.

This is a specimen of the bamboo species Arthrostylidium venezuelae. A. venezuelae is one of over 400 species of bamboo that are native to Central and South America. Most American bamboos have small stems and use surrounding vegetation to help them stand upright. This specimen is from Costa Rica and it served as one of the sources of DNA used in a 2012 research paper on the evolution of woody bamboos of the New World tropics. American bamboo diversity and evolution is one of the many research areas that MPM curators have investigated over the years.

A German immigrant, Peter Glass, crafted wooden tables with extremely intricate wooden veneer designs, which led him to win two major awards -- one at the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association exhibit in 1850 and one from the American Institute of New York in 1856. Shortly thereafter, Glass moved to Sheboygan, Wisconsin and began one of his greatest feats: A table containing nearly 20,000 pieces of wood. This design depicted faces of military and political heroes, with floral motifs. Today, very few Peter Glass Marquetry tables survive. Similar tables crafted by Glass are located at the Smithsonian Institution and the Illinois Governor's Mansion. The table depicted here is on display in The Streets of Old Milwaukee exhibit, but remains covered to protect it from the damaging effects of the lights.

Robert Zingg and Wendell Bennett were graduate students at the University of Chicago when they led an anthropological expedition to study the Tarahumara in Chihuahua, Mexico for nine months in 1930-1931. The expedition was one of the first modern studies of remote Mexican Indians, and the work published from their studies is one of the few on a culture of Northern Mexico. The collection consists of approximately 400 items ranging from basic clothing and housewares to objects used for dances and ceremonies. It is one of the earliest, most comprehensive, and largest Tarahumara collections in the United States. Some of these items can be seen in the Mexican area on the Third Floor.