Collections by Name | Collections by Region

Native American Collections

The Michigan State University Museum has extensive holdings of North American Indian cultural collections as well as selected examples of Native Hawaiian materials. The objects, ephemera, photographs, field notes, and other materials include items ranging from porcupine quillwork made by Michigan Heritage Awardees to a Native Hawaiian flag quilt made by artists on the Big Island to Southwest baskets collected at the turn of the 20th century to a small collection of art made by contemporary Great Lakes women artists. One of the largest and most important of the collections is the Frank M. Covert/R.E. Olds Native American Basket Collection (see separate description) that has been augmented by items acquired primarily through other donors.

Specific discrete collections include:

• Anishnabek: Artists of Little Traverse Bay Project Collection
• Frank M. Covert/R.E. Olds Native American Basket Collection
• Great Lakes Indian Dance Regalia Project Collection
• Native American Basket Collections
• Navajo Rug Collection
• North American Indian and Native Hawaiian Quilt Collection
• Sisters of the Great Lakes/Nokomis Collection
• Donald and Donna Boudeman Material Culture Collection (esp. Arctic and Southwest materials)

The museum adheres to the protocols and procedures of the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act and some collections have been repatriated.

The majority of the collections were acquired by donation but some are as a result of research and educational projects led by faculty and staff, often in collaboration with native organizations and institutions, including the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian, Nokomis American Indian Education Center (Okemos, Michigan), Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa, Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Indians, the MSU Native American Institute, and numerous native basketmakers organizations across the country. The collections are used extensively in research and teaching and have been the basis of exhibitions, publications, festival programs, and a variety of other activities.

Exhibitions

"Gatherings: Great Lakes Native Basket and Box Makers," Nokomis Learning Center, Okemos, Michigan, 1999.

"Native Quilts from the Michigan State University Museum Collection," McCune Art Center, Petoskey, Michigan, October 5 - 31, 1998.

"Anishnaabek: Artists of Little Traverse Bay," Andrew J. Blackbird Museum, Harbor Springs, Michigan, May 1996; October 1996; Nokomis American Indian Cultural Learning Center, Okemos, Michigan, January 1997; River of History Museum/Lake Superior State University, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, September - November 1997; Midland County Historical Society, Midland, Michigan, March 1 - April 5, 1998; Emmet-Charlevoix County Fair, Petoskey, Michigan, August 18-25, 2003.

"MSU American Indian Heritage Pow Wow Portraits: Photographs by Douglas Elbinger," MSU Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, February - September 1994; Nokomis American Indian Cultural Learning Center, Okemos, Michigan, August - December 1994; McCune Art Center, Petoskey, Michigan, September - November 1996; Kellogg Center, MSU Campus, East Lansing, Michigan, October 1996 - August 1997; Marquette Mission Park & Museum of Ojibway Culture, St. Ignace, Michigan, May - October 1997; Kalamazoo Valley Museum, Kalamazoo, Michigan, January 30 - May 30, 1999; Montcalm Community College, Sidney, Michigan, November 2002, DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Auburn Hills, Michigan, November 2004.

"Native American Masters," Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs, Detroit, Michigan, January 1993; MSU Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, August 1993 - February 1994; Gerald R. Ford Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan, March - April 1994; Marquette Mission Park & Museum of Ojibwa Culture, St. Ignace, Michigan, May - October 1996; Port Huron Museum, Port Huron, Michigan, August 12 - October 22, 2000; Fort Miami Heritage Society, St. Joseph, Michigan, January - May 2002.

"Sisters of the Great Lakes: Art of American Indian Women," Nokomis Learning Center, Okemos, Michigan, September, 1995 - December, 1996; Hall of Ideas, Midland Center for the Arts, Midland, Michigan, January - March 1997; The Field Museum Chicago, Illinois, December 20, 1997 - July 5, 1998; Forest County Potawatomi Cultural Center & Museum, Crandon, Wisconsin, September - December, 2000; Fort Miami Heritage Society, St. Joseph, Michigan, May - September, 2002.

"Native American Quilts from the Southwest: Tradition, Creativity and Inspiration," Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, December 1998 - March 1999. Great Lakes Native Quilting, Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, September 19, 1999 - February 6, 2000; Sloan Museum, Flint, Michigan, September 14 - November 14, 2001.

"Great Lakes Native Quilting," Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, September 19, 1999-February 6, 2000; Sloan Museum, Flint, Michigan, September 14 - November 14, 2001.

"Contemporary Great Lakes Pow Wow Regalia: Nda Maamawigaami (Together We Dance)," Nokomis Learning Center, Okemos, Michigan, January - November, 1997; Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, February - April, 1998; Kalamazoo Valley Museum, Kalamazoo, Michigan, January 30 - May 30, 1999; Nokomis Learning Center, Okemos, Michigan, September, 1999 - June, 2000.

"To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions," (Small Version) Southern Ute Indian Cultural Center, Ignacio, Colorado, October - December, 1999; Southwestern Michigan College Museum, Dowagiac, Michigan, February 1 - March 25, 2000; Milwaukee County Historical Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September - December, 2000; Forest County Potawatomi Cultural Center & Museum; Crandon, Wisconsin, February - May, 2001; Woodland Cultural Center, Brantford, Ontario, January 25 - April 28, 2002.

"To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions," (Interpretive Panel Version) Akwesasne Museum, Akwesasne, New York, July 31 - September 22, 2000; Dubois Annual Quilt Festival, Dubois, Wyoming, August 10-12, 2001.

"To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions," (Large Version;SITES) National Museum of the American Indian, New York, New York, October 16, 1997 - January 4, 1998; Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, April 19 - October 18, 1998; Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, Massachusetts, March 13 - June 6, 1999; Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, Ohio, July 3 - September 26, 1999; Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, Montana, October 23, 1999 - January 16, 2000; Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii, February 12 - May 7, 2000; Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma, Washington, June 3 - August 27, 2000; Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, September 23 - December 31, 2000; Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, January 13 - April 8, 2001.

Publications

Yvonne Lockwood and Marsha MacDowell, Honoring Traditions: Michigan Heritage Awards, 1985-2004. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Museum, 2004.

Marsha MacDowell, Gatherings: Great Lakes Native Baskets and Box Makers. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Museum in collaboration with the Nokomis American Indian Learning Center, 1995.

C. Kurt Dewhurst and Marsha MacDowell, To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Museum of New Mexico Press in association with Michigan State University Museum, 1997.

Marsha MacDowell, Contemporary Great Lakes Pow Wow Regalia. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Museum in collaboration with the Nokomis American Indian Learning Center, 1997.

Marsha MacDowell and Janice Reed, eds. Sisters of the Great Lakes: American Indian Women Artists, East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Museum in collaboration with Nokomis American Indian Learning Center, 1995.

Marsha MacDowell, ed. Anishnabek: Artists of Little Traverse Bay. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Museum and Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa, 1996.

Otis Tufton Mason, American Indian Basketry (1904); reissued, Dover Publications, 1989.

James McClurken, The Way it Happened: A Visual History of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Indians. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Museum, 1991.

Charles E. Cleland, ed. The Lasanen Site: An Historical Burial Locality in Mackinac County, Michigan. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Museum, 1971.

Robert C. Mainfort, Jr. Indian Social Dynamics in the Period of European Contact: Fletcher Site Cemetery, Bay County, Michigan. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Museum, 1979.

Margaret Kimball Brown, Cultural Transformations Among the Illinois: An Application of a Systems Model. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Museum, 1979.

Janet G. Brashler, Early Late Woodland Boundaries and Interaction: Indian Ceramics of Southern Lower Michigan. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Museum, 1981.

Moreau S. Maxwell and Lewis R. Binford, Excavation at Fort Michilimackinac, Mackinac City, Michigan: 1959 Season. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Museum, 1961.

Fancy Dance Regalia: A detailed look at the apprael worn by many American Indian dancers. Webpage includes links to lesson plans, additional information, and more.

Sisters of the Great Lakes, Shirley M. Brauker, Odawa, Coldwater, Michigan, 1994

Textured pot, Zuni, New Mexico

Seal skin doll, Natalia Nayamin, Alaska, 1990