National Museum of the American Indian

Collections

Collections The collections of the former Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, form the cornerstone of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian. Assembled at the turn of the twentieth century by wealthy New Yorker George Gustav Heye (1874–1957), the collections are distinguished by thousands of masterworks, including intricate wood and stone carvings and masks from the Northwest Coast of North America; elegantly painted and quilled hides, clothing, and feather bonnets from the North American Plains; pottery and basketry from the southwestern United States; eighteenth-century materials from the Great Lakes region; the C.B. Moore collection from the southeastern United States; and Navajo weavings illustrating a broad range of very early types. Works on paper and canvas include Plains ledger drawings as well as contemporary prints and paintings. The museum's collections also include a substantial array of materials from the Caribbean, Mexico, Central, and South America, including a wide representation of archaeological objects from the Caribbean; ceramics from Costa Rica, central Mexico, and Peru; beautifully carved jade from the Olmec and Maya peoples; textiles and gold from the Andean cultures; and elaborate featherwork from the peoples of Amazonia. NMAI's collections include materials not only of cultural, historical, and aesthetic interest, but also of spiritual significance. Funerary, religious, and ceremonial objects associated with living cultures are displayed only with the approval of the appropriate tribes. Repatriation is another important concern being addressed by the museum. Human remains and funerary objects, religious and ceremonial artifacts, communally owned tribal property, or any holdings acquired illegally are returned upon request to individual descendants or tribal groups who can demonstrate a cultural affiliation and factual claim to the property in question. For more information about George G. Heye, please visit the Smithsonian Magazine site to view an article about Heye by Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Lawrence M. Small, in the November 2000 issue. Moving the Collections In 1999, the National Museum of the American Indian began moving its collections from New York to the Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Maryland, a challenging undertaking that will take approximately five years. During this period, the collections will not be available for research. In preparation for the move, museum staff conducted a complete inventory and condition assessment of the collections, and began development of a comprehensive database that will include basic information as well as digitized images of the collections.