Permanent Galleries

The Woodlands Gallery focuses on the native peoples living east of the Mississippi River, including the Northeast, Southeast and Great Lakes areas. A full-size birch bark canoe is the centerpiece of the exhibit with individual cases exploring fishing, hunting and gathering, wood splint and birch bark containers, and various forms of personal ornament, including glass beads, quillwork and moosehair embroidery. A separate case shows the clothing and crafts of the Southeastern Woodlands peoples, including the Seminole, Cherokee and Choctaw tribes, and features a rare late 19th century velvet patchwork Seminole man's Big Shirt. The gallery also includes a model Long House and photographic essays on canoe making and wild rice harvesting.
Newly  installed - 22 original prints of Edward S. Curtis in the central atrium and an exhibit detailing the story of Iroquois beadwork and its reflections of community,  strategic adaptation, changing patterns of living, and the power to retain and expand upon cultural traditions

The Plains Gallery explores the lifeways of the Native American tribes living in the central part of North America. Moccasins, blanket strips and a variety of carrying bags show the distinctive beadwork designs typical of the Crow, Cheyenne, Blackfoot and Lakota (Sioux). Dolls, including two made by contemporary Lakota artists Charlene and Rhonda Holy Bear provide detailed examples of men and women's dress. The Plains hunting and warrior traditions are represented by an eagle feather war bonnet, weapons and a shield, as well as a number of carved catlinite pipe bowls.

The Southwest Gallery illustrates the culture and art of the Pueblo, Navajo and southern Arizona Papago and Tohono O'odham (Pima) peoples. Cases are devoted to Pueblo pottery, ranging from thousand year-old Anasazi bowls to contemporary works, including several pieces by the famed San Ildefonso potter Maria Martinez, and the silver and turquoise jewelry of Zuni, Navajo, Hopi and Santo Domingo artists. Over 40 different Kachina dolls including several turn of the century carvings from Acoma and Laguna Pueblos are also on exhibit, as are Navajo rugs from many of the different early 20th century trading posts.

The Northwest Coast and Arctic Gallery provides insight into the people living along the Pacific Coast of Washington, Alaska and British Columbia and in the northern reaches of Canada. Prints, baskets, masks and other wooden carvings demonstrate the way Northwest Coast art incorporates family history in its imagery. A full size dance screen, painted by a contemporary Tlingit artist for the Museum, a Button Robe, and a woven goat hair and cedar bark Chilkat blanket are also on view. The wide variety of materials used by the Inuit and Athapascan peoples of the Arctic is shown by the everyday items on exhibit, including several pairs of snow goggles made from caribou hoof, bone and wood. A full-size early 20th century walrus intestine parka from western Alaska and contemporary dolls from Kotzebue and St. Lawrence Island illustrate different types of traditional dress.

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Current Temporary Exhibit

June 14 through September 4

 Transfusion
 acrylic, oil, watercolor, mixed media, photography
Artists:
Chris Pappan/Osage, Kaw, Cheyenne River Sioux
John Joe/Dine
Debra Yepa-Pappan/Jemez Pueblo
Craig George/Dine

Through our respective creative processes, we have redefined the term "Transfusion." These images we create are living entities. They are born of an idea, then nurtured into maturity. We feed them the blood they need to live: paint, ink, emotions, dreams, anything within our grasp. Once the many layers of "blood" have been transfused, the new being is ready to tell our story and reveal the depth and complexity of our histories.

  

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Upcoming Temporary Exhibits

 
Opening
September 27
The Bernard and June Kleban Collection -
Transcending Boundaries - American Indian Traditional and Contemporary Art. 

 
June Kleban, on behalf of herself and her late husband, has donated over 200 important items of Native art, including one of the largest single collections of LeLooska family carvings in the Nation. June is from Wilmington, Delaware and fell in love with the Mitchell Museum when visiting a daughter in Skokie, IL. Her generosity is a ringing endorsement of the mission of the Museum. 
 
Don Smith, or Lelooska, (1933-1996) was well-known in the Pacific Northwest as a Native American artist and storyteller. Of Cherokee heritage, he was adopted as an adult by the prestigious Kwakiutl Sewid clan and had relationships with elders from a wide range of tribal backgrounds. Initially producing curio items for sale to tourists and regalia for Oregon Indians, he emerged in the late 1950s as one of a handful of artists who proved critical in the renaissance of Northwest Coast Indian art. He also developed into a supreme performer and educator, staging shows of dances, songs, and storytelling. During the peak years from the 1970s to the early 1990s, the family shows with Lelooska as the centerpiece attracted as many as 30,000 people annually. The LeLooska family continue to be important carvers and creators of Native art

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Collections
The Mitchell Museum of the American Indian holds over 9000 objects dating from the Paleo-Indian period through the present day. The collection covers all areas of North America, including the Woodlands, Plains, Plateau, Southwest, Northwest Coast and Arctic peoples. The Museum's areas of strength include:

  • Great Lakes ice fishing decoys

  • Traditional and contemporary dolls from throughout North America

  • 19th and 20th century Beadwork from the Northern Plains and Great Lakes regions

  • Baskets from the Great Lakes, Southwest, California and Northwest Coast

  • Navajo weavings

  • Late 19th and early 20th century Kachinas

  • Cape Dorset prints

  • Arctic stone, ivory and bone carvings dating from prehistoric through modern times

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