Inside the Collections: Pacific Northwest Coast Peoples

While highlights from the Museum's collection of artifacts from the Pacific Northwest Coast are on display in the Hall of Northwest Coast Indians, more than 13,000 objects are kept in storage in the Division of Anthropology.
Join Curator of North American Ethnology Peter Whitely as he leads a tour of the collections, which includes a giant Kwakwka'wakw whale mask, a Chilkat blanket with three different interpretations of its abstract symbolism, and a Haida/Tsimshian raven rattle.
Many of the artifacts in the Division of Anthropology's Pacific Northwest Coast Collection were amassed during a series of expeditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The most scientifically important of these expeditions, the Jesup North Pacific Expedition led by anthropologist Franz Boas between 1897 and 1902, collected more than 4,000 objects.
Visitors can also find a number of whale-related artifacts from the Anthropology collections in the Museum's special exhibition, "Whales: Giants of the Deep," now open through January 5, 2014. For more information, visit www.amnh.org/ex....
CREDITS:
MUSIC:
"Certain Death (Still Alive Remix)" by Blackberry
"lenox" and "sunspot" by Moby
Indiana University Archives of Traditional Music, 54-121-F,
Kwakiutl Indians recorded by Franz Boas and John Comfort Fillmore at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893
PHOTOGRAPHY:
AMNH/E. Labenski
AMNH/R. Mickens
AMNH Library Archives/T. Bierwert
AMNH Library Archives/411184
AMNH Library Archives/338431/Group of
Sitka Indians at Klukwan Potlach, J. M. Blankenberg, 1910
MAPS:
AMNH/Division of Anthropology, Distribution Map by Franz Boas, 1896
Traditional Tlingit Map by Andrew Hope III, copyright Tlingit Readers Inc.
VIDEO:
AMNH/J. Bauerle

[@garymoi180]

Give them back

[@here444now]

2:34 this isn’t true. I’m from Klukwan, Alaska (the capital of the Tlingit tribe) and Chilkat blankets are worn/woven by any tribal member who wishes to do so, not only people of “chiefly rank.” Chilkat blankets are one of the most common forms of our dance regalia, alongside button blankets and tunics.

[@marmarlittlechick]

I didn't know that. Thank you.

[@complimentary_voucher]

Thanks! Having had dealings with the indigenous tribes of northern Australia, I often see their objects and practices misrepresented in 'official' or scholarly record. And I know just as an artist that the things we produce are constantly subjected to crappy hot takes. It's important that makers correct the narrative.

[@jaythompson5102]

As ugly as it is to see the items not returned today, Mr Boaz had good reason to collect some of these items. Missionaries were working with many of these communities and were known to destroy items that had religious significance, so in a way he was trying to preserve them. He also was one of the few, white voices at the time arguing for rights for aboriginal people. He was far from perfect of course but at the time he was considered an eccentric and wasn't taken seriously.

[@cosmicman621]

...and NOW they should be returned to their respective owner/ creator Nations

[@IndriidaeNT]

Native Americans especially those from the Pacific Northwest, Great Plains, Iroqouis/Haudenosaunee, Inuits/Eskimos and Pueblo as well as the Maya civilization, Aztec empire and Inca empire are awesome! One day I should create historical fiction and nonfiction stories about Native Americans and their culture and society including those of Native Americans from the Pacific Northwest, Great Plains and Iroquois/Haudenosaunee plus the Mayans, Incas, Aztecs, Chimu, Moche, Chancay, Toltecs and Yanaomoai from the Amazon rainforest as well as European colonization of the Americas during the Age of Discovery and the Spanish Conquest led by Fransico Pizzaro and Hern Cortes of the Aztec empire, Maya civilization and Inca empire and in the aftermaths and what happened to those people from their cultures after they fell during Spanish rule of Mexico, Central America and Peru and how the Inca empire, the indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest, Maya civilization and Aztec empire came to be and the cultures that existed before them like the Paracas, Olmecs, Zaptoecs, Chimu and Chanacay plus the Chavin, Moche and Nazca and their backstories and histories before they either fell or declined for unknown reasons or due to changes in the climate or the collapse of their economies and even when they were conquered by the Inca empire, Aztec empire and Maya civilization with the remnants of their cultures and people being absorbed or made part of the population of the Inca empire, Aztec empire and Maya civilization (That was the case between the Moche and Chimu as well as the Moche after living with their culture in Northern Peru for several years had their culture declined and collapsed through a combination of both changes to the climate and them being defeated by the Chimu while the Chimu and Chanacay were all cultures in Peru long before the Inca empire that were controlled by the Incas.) The historical fiction and nonfiction stories I plan to write will be similar to Dreamworks Animation’s The Road to El Dorado (2000) which is also a historical fiction and adventure film about El Dorado a city made of gold from the Amazon rainforest, Inca empire, Maya civilization and Aztec empire and the indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest and the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, Inca and Mayans by Hern Cortes (Responsible for the fall of the Aztec empire) and Fransico Pizzaro (Responsible for the fall of the Inca empire) and one other Spanish conquistador that led to the fall of the Mayans and the Portuguese colonization of Brazil and Peru during the Age of Discovery. It will also be similar to Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Pocahontas (1995) which was made during the Disney Renaissance (1989-1999) and about the Native Americans from Virginia in the 1600s, Pocahontas and the English historical figures Governor Ratcliffe and John Smith and the English colonization of Virginia and the foundation of Jamestown at the end of the Age of Discovery. I typically create fictional stories, chapter books and literature and novels focusing on anthropomorphic animals from the anthropomorphic animal world like the Zootopia franchise (Consisting of Zootopia (2016), Zootopia Plus (2022) and the sequel comics to the original movies in the Zootopia graphic novel and several prequel comics.) from Walt Disney Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures and Sing franchise (Consisting of Sing (2016), Sing 2 (2021) and several short films) from Illumination and Universal Pictures but for a change my historical fiction books and stories based on the Maya civilization, Inca empire, Aztec empire, Moche, Chimu, Chanacay, the indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest and the Spanish and Portuguese colonization of Brazil and Peru and the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, Incas and Mayas will feature all human characters and will be set in the human world just like Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Moana (2016) which focuses on pacific peoples and the indigenous peoples of French Polynesia and their culture and mythology (Moana will soon be getting a sequel animated television series on Disney Plus in summer of 2024 while Despicable Me 4 a sequel to Despicable Me 3 (2017) will be released in cinemas) and Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) which focuses on cultures and civilizations of people from Southeast Asia and the culture and mythology of the indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia. They despite being historical fictions and nonfiction stories based real life events in the pre-columbian era and Age of Discovery will also have supernatural and mythology elements just like Pocahontas (1995), The Road to El Dorado (2000), The Prince of Egypt (1998), Moana (2016) and Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) in terms of gods and goddesses from Aztec, Inca, Maya, Chimu, Moche and Olmec mythologies and magical abilities and spells cast by gods and goddesses from Aztec, Inca and Mayan mythologies. If everything goes well with those historical fictions and nonfiction stories I plan to write and create new fantasy, historical fiction and nonfiction stories and books also set in the human world with all human characters focusing on the slavery of African Americans and the underground railroad, the Declaration of Independence plus U.S. presidents in history, Pacific Peoples including the indigenous peoples of Papua New Guinea, Australia and the Philippines, the indigenous peoples of Sub-Saharan Africa, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient China, Japan during the Tokugawa Shogunate, Mesopotamia, King Arthur, the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the American civil war, World War One and World War Two similar to the fantasy and historical fiction films Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Illumination and DreamWorks Animation produce.

[@complimentary_voucher]

I agree, so much has been destroyed in Australia, NZ and Oceania at dickhead missionary insistence that I am almost glad when I see the old pieces kept out of harm's way like this, just from a selfish perspective. But where there is provenance and the desire to have them back, they should be returned to their peoples. Not everyone wants that, even amongst indigenous parties, but the conversations should always be had.

[@MindfulLifex]

K but how about returning all of these artifacts to the tribes and let them decide what should be done with them.

[@brennansawyer8688]

True, alert bay has a museum

[@BrianShaneRushton]

Nah

[@russellking9762]

@@BrianShaneRushton what?? please explain

[@BrianShaneRushton]

@@russellking9762 the artifacts are better taken care of in a museum. If you give them back the native people they'll lose them and they'll get damaged and such. And let's be real here, the natives will just sell the artifacts back to the white people to buy piss anyways

[@shelbylowery2748]

A lot of tribes allow their stuff to be on display. I’m an anthropology major. There’s also NAGPRA in place so museums can’t keep them

[@530MAIDU]

I as a Native American believe most of our traditional property was either stolen from grave sites, tribal people, our bought for minimal costs like Alcatraz which was paid I was informed for a few beads??? Alcatraz was also a prison for aboriginal people? I have to believe as a person of faith that God is just and he will repay what's been stolen...

[@IndriidaeNT]

The AMNH makes a lot of awesome videos and virtual tours about its traveling exhibits, fossil halls and dinosaur and other prehistoric animal fossils, human origins and evolution, diorama halls and animal taxidermies and specimens and the space exhibits and astronomy, as well as paleontology, marine biology, mammalogy, paleoanthropology, ornithology and astronomy that I have watched and enjoyed, but they need to make more videos and virtual tours focusing on its human cultural halls and anthropology, but this is primarily because the AMNH is a natural history museum only tackling information on animals and nature and Earth’s history and paleontology, marine biology and astronomy and human evolution, the Met Museum is meanwhile an art museum that tackles more information on human history, art and ancient cultures. But I love both subjects overall.

[@user-mp2tk3pw6j]

2:28 this is not true. The people who made the chilkat blanket first was my nation! (Tsimshian) 2:34 This is also not true! It was used for anyone, if they wanted to wear it. In today’s world, it’s not something you wear everyday. You only wear it in events or ceremonies.

[@moist_onions]

Alot of innacuracies in what they say and the way they pronounce the names are wrong. Another small problem with this is that british Colombia is Haida Gwaii, might as well say the proper name if your going to keep stolen artifacts

[@profd65]

How do you know they're stolen?

[@woohooo7634]

Also, It's spelled "Yakut" not "Yakoot" and "Chukchi" not "Chukchee"

[@daraven4714]

@@profd65 because the only way you get a shaman's rattle is by taking them from a grave....stolen. Chilkat robes, first made by Tsimpshian and then the rights to make them were purchased by the Tlingits in the Chilkat area, these were never sold. These robes are important "stories" that documented clan and family histories. Therefore... stolen. All of these should be available for study and if neccesary repatriation. The most important is that they remain safe.

[@mfdoob5875]

These are stolen artifacts

[@kylelee7532]

Thank You!!! I needed this to study for a test!!!

[@karenpelletier5707]

To see this art in a museum is one thing, but to see it as it was meant to be seen; danced in the fire light of the big house is magical. The masks come alive!

[@toddvandewaal8295]

Awesome collection, stollen but safe.

[@lilithwinebrenner1616]

the art is so pretty! (:

[@chicorysweet5472]

i had a couple eyebrow raisers watching this too, and im still learning about my own culture (dena'ina, family from anchorage, alaska). glad i wasnt the only one who noticed, seems like from other comments they made some pretty rough errors. the whole time i was wondering - is there gonna be an indigenous person explaining the significance and history like ive seen in other videos? nope... just a white guy :/ as an artist and an inuk theres a lot of careful balancing between preservation and repatriation. is it better kept safe in a collection for so long, being guarded from ignorant missionaries at the cost of losing vital historical and cultural context? best case scenario is family heirlooms with oral history. but how much of that can you find after colonialism intentionally worked to decimate everything about our culture? just some thoughts

[@russellking9762]

as a native of New Zealand…Maori…i fully understand your angst…

[@Vixpine]

I'd love to see more from t his collection. such beautiful works of art. :3

[@athenassigil5820]

I love native art! Never thought about it till now, but Raven is the equivalent of Prometheus in Greek myth, who also brought fire/light to man.

[@BCelticsPP34]

I'd love to see more videos!

[@CitizenofTatooine]

I met Northwest Coast Culture thanks to the novel I Heard The Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven.

[@NIIGAANMEDIA]

should return them to their rightful families and tribes

[@brennansawyer391]

+Dylan ail Don (O'Taine) actually lots of artifacts were stolen a long time ago and they ended up there. Not saying that these are stolen but my local museum the umista cultural centre is trying to get old stolen artifacts back

[@brennansawyer391]

+Dylan ail Don (O'Taine) that's not the point and they were advanced in medicines,art and knowledge of nature

[@brennansawyer391]

+Dylan ail Don (O'Taine) they did farm but they didn't have to as much because the main food source was from the ocean and they did carve in stone

[@fullmoon7192]

*+Dylan ail Don (O'Taine)* ************************** First Nations were, and still are, more advanced than us, the western degenerated and destructive civilization who knows nothing but greed. Anything that was taken away from the First Nations People of the West Coast, wasn't due to their lack of moral and spiritual advancement, but due to their culture of sharing, something the "white man" could've learned from them, instead of taking advantage of. *For the record:* I'm a caucasian man born and raised in Europe but my moral and spiritual birth took place among Gitxsan People of NW B.C. during 15+ yrs of living there, and I'll remain forever grateful for that experience.

[@brennansawyer391]

+HAPPY WHALE you said it perfectly

[@kingcam3559]

Just absolutely super dupery important :D

[@nagunaks2222]

Tsimpshian were the first to make Chilkat robes.

[@user-mp2tk3pw6j]

Yes, we were! (It’s spelled “Tsimshian”)

[@dhill7030]

Ts'msyen and yes i was told that we are the 1st to MAKE THE BLANKETS also our language is not like any others we do not belong to a language group we are the peoples from the sea and rivers and land s. im from the skeena river where my G'i - grandmothers fire was i belong to the clan gisbutwannada or BLACKFISH and i have the house of NIS'OOYS. WAI WAH

[@harperwelch5147]

All this seems to be housed in storage shelves. How much is on display?

[@mobilemollusc615]

Give it back!

[@whitegardenturkeys]

excellent

[@awen777]

I had a native friend (now deceased) who was taking artifacts out of museums and returning them to the rightful tribal owners. He finally got caught and was sentenced to 15yrs in the state prison.

[@Marialla.]

Is there no pottery in the collection? I see basketry and woodworking, but isn't pottery common to all people?

[@vahidhosoda6614]

Wait a minute is that guy on night at the museum based on this guy in the video sounds like him looks like him

[@jax5850]

give them back they are stolen

[@JAMESJACKSON-sj2qm]

He said hunting killer whales 🐋 wrong

[@tittussbonduss9829]

32,516 v

[@dalelabdala3493]

I KNEW THOSE STUFF

[@jmousevancouver6471]

Why haven't these been repatriated

[@JacobFirlotte]

Stolen

[@kamauwikeepawikk9520]

It's so sad the time given to these most beautiful art of first nations is too brief and dose not give credit to this form of art.

[@curtisbolen2693]

It is time to return these items

[@Avia2023]

Unbelievable this is not a collection.. these are sacred artifacts of indigenous peoples. These artifacts should be returned to the correct tribes.

[@Mark-ej4uf]

Franz Boas. Failure of the corrupted course of Criminal Cultural Anthropology at the State University of Milan.

[@iotaalgebra1195]

It should be with descendants not with white man in white man building

[@profd65]

Northwest Indian art is far superior to any other native art I've seen.

[@sandrarudd8519]

As a Pacific North Westerner, I agree but the SW art is excellent. It isn't primitive. It is very sophisticated.

[@jihuronexi5858]

somewhat similar to moche pottery especially portrait vessels of northern peru. despite being a thousand years older than the incas they had the most beautiful arts and metallurgy skills of that region.

[@naashoiianinigii5266]

Sandra Rudd, I am replying a year to late but from what tribe are you from? To Who do you belong?

[@JacobFirlotte]

As a Stó:lō, once you try to rank art you miss the point

[@russellking9762]

@@JacobFirlotte well spoken…and very very true

[@icrazymangle4736]

im unsubscwibing

[@icrazymangle4736]

+icrazymangle TEMMMMMYYY FLAKESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[@floydwilliams8595]

people talking about Cancel Culture. LOL what ever.....................