Installation by Anne Coates

Baskets have been made and used by many cultures throughout the world from ancient times through the present day. In American Indian cultures, baskets ranged from sacred ceremonial objects to household tools. The 21 baskets on display in this exhibit are examples of utilitarian baskets that played a major role in the gathering, production, and storage of food.

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Installation by Anne Coates

Baskets have been made and used by many cultures throughout the world from ancient times through the present day. In American Indian cultures, baskets ranged from sacred ceremonial obje... more

There’s nothing plain about the exhibit of Plains Native art and culture that will be on view from July 3 to October 17.
 
This exhibit focuses on tribes of the northern Great Plains during the period of forced removal from ancestral lands and the Reservation Period of the 1880s to the 1930s. The exhibit also touches on how traditional art is kept alive today on Plains reservations and will include contemporary Plains ledger art (created on accounting paper) and animal-hide art.

The exhibit will comprise approximately 50 historic objects from the museum’s permanent collection and on loan from private collectors, including pictorial beadwork; beaded bags, purses and moccasins; painted hide bags; clothing; quillwork; and dolls.
 
Displays will trace changes in designs, materials, and methods of Plains artists, such as the adoption of sewing machines, often introduced at boarding schools that taught industrial arts, and the cultural interplay between Natives and white settlers and traders.
 
“Dazzling Colors” takes its name from the written account of a U.S. Cavalry officer who in 1881 witnessed a Lakota Sun Dance attended by approximately 12,000 Oglala and Brulé Lakota. “Nothing could be added in the way of dazzling colors,” wrote Army Captain John Gregory Bourke.  “Calico shirts in all the bright hues of the rainbow, leggings of cloth, canvas, and buckskin, moccasins of buckskin, crusted with fine beadwork were worn by all.”
 
In a departure from most temporary exhibits at the Mitchell, “Dazzling Colors” will be mounted in themed sections, many with their own atmospheric environment. For example, visitors will view some materials by walking into a canvas replica of a tipi flanked by ledger art depicting resistance and battles in the early reservation years.  Some items will be displayed in a vignette modeled on a historic photo of a merchandise stand operated by a Native couple selling art and craftwork.
 
A computer terminal in the gallery will have an interactive program to introduce visitors to the concept of the Lakota winter count, a pictorial calendar with images representing each year’s most memorable event. Users will hear words spoken in the Lakota language when they scroll over the pictures. The winter count was used as a visual aid in retelling oral histories.
 
Among topics to be explored in the exhibit is the difference in the arts practiced by Plains Indian men and women. According to exhibit curator Laura McDowell, men created representational and narrative art, such as images and scenes documenting historical and current events or illustrating spiritual themes, and they tended to work alone. The women typically worked in groups, crafting domestic items decorated with abstract and geometrical designs.
 
“As a follow-up to the Mitchell’s recent exhibit about Pacific Northwest Coast Native peoples, it seemed appropriate to look at Native communities closer to home,” McDowell said. “This is a geographic region familiar to those who drive west on summer vacations, but the history and culture of the indigenous peoples there remain little-known to many of those passing through.”

For more information, contact the Museum at 847.475.1030 or click here to email visitorservices@mitchellmuseum.org

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There’s nothing plain about the exhibit of Plains Native art and culture that will be on view from July 3 to October 17.
 
This exhibit focuses on tribes of the northern Great Plains during the period of forced removal from ances... more

(Permanent Exhibit)

This exhibit brings visitors on a tour through the major regions of the US and Canada and highlights the art and material culture of the tribes who lived there. Many of the objects you’ll see were collected by John and Betty Seabury Mitchell. This couple shared their passion for Native American art and culture with Evanstonians both old and young. In that spirit the exhibit strives to provide a deeper understanding of Native American art, history, and cultures to all our visitors.

For more information, contact the Museum at 847.475.1030 or click here to email visitorservices@mitchellmuseum.org
...less

(Permanent Exhibit)

This exhibit brings visitors on a tour through the major regions of the US and Canada and highlights the art and material culture of the tribes who lived there. Many of the objects you’ll see were collect... more