The permanent exhibition "North America" displaying the material culture of the indigenous North
Americans, uses paths - timelines - to provide the visitor with a journey from the present into
the pasts of the Mandan and Hidatsa peoples of the prairies, the Crow of the plains, the Hopi of
the southwest, the Hupa of California, the Tsimshian and Tlingit of the northwest Pacific coast,
and of the Inuit of Labrador. Each timeline introduces the visitor to a particular culture and to
significant events in each people's history before taking the visitor back to the decades between
1834 and 1903 when the objects now in the exhibition became part of the Museum's collection,
brought to Germany by travelers. Among these were the natural scientist Prince Maximilian zu
Wied, the artist and equestrian Charles Schreyvogel, the illustrator and writer Rudolf Cronau,
the explorer Henry G.Bryant, and the missionary Friedrich Nestle. Arts and crafts such as quill
and bead work, basket weaving, and wood carving are on display. Each timeline journey also
focuses on a special aspect of the relevant culture. For example, on the prairies path
"Together strong" discusses gender roles peculiar to the Mandan and Hidatsa, while the
plains people path "Riding high" looks at their passion for horses and the Crow's nomadic
lifestyle. "Precious water" relates to Hopi concerns in the arid southwest, "High and mighty"
for the Hupa, while further north among the Tsimshian and Tlingit "Human-animal transformation'
looks at the interaction of life in ceremony and in daily life on the northwest coast. The
Labrador journey "Restructuring our world" focuses on changes to Inuit society because of
interaction with the wider world.
Curator: Dr. Sonja Schierle
Curator: Dr. Sonja Schierle
highlights of the exhibition >>