All tribal groups traded among themselves for raw materials and finished products. Examples include the Northwest Coast tribes who engaged in a trade network that brought them copper from Lake Superior, and Plains Native Americans trading with the Navajo for woven “chief” blankets.

 

Once all Native American tribes came in contact with European explorers, missionaries, armies, or trading ships they recognized an additional market for their cultural objects and they began creating more of these traditional objects for trade.

 

Native American cultural objects were traded throughout the world in the 1800s and by 1900 had attracted the attention of wealthy Americans interested in collecting ethnographic objects from traditional cultures. As more Americans became fascinated by Native American history and culture they began to collect Native art, craft, and archaeological objects. Trading post catalogues, art galleries, missionaries, and especially tourists promoted this interest.

 

As government policies on Indian affairs changed, departments such as the National Park Service provided authentic information about the tribes, which also encouraged visitors to collect art, craft, and books.

So---Paiute baskets from the Great Basin, rugs, pottery, and jewelry from the Southwest, masks and totem poles from the Northwest Coast, and ivory and bone carvings from the Arctic had all made their way across the country. In 1924, an Akron tourist traveling on the Santa Fe Railroad purchased three Navajo rugs, and the same year two totem poles were commissioned from the Tlingit tribe in southern Alaska and sent to Akron. One is still standing in a private garden.

 

The appreciation and interest in Native American art and craft has expanded greatly, encouraging the artists to preserve old art forms and create new ones. Examples of work by living artists include the two whalebone sculptures by Kent Heindel, the sea-ryegrass baskets woven by Evelyn Douglas of Hooper Bay, Alaska, and the bear claw seed pot by Navajo potter Lorraine Williams.

 

Some of the objects you see here are very old and most traveled many miles before coming to the Oelschlagers and then to the University for this exhibition.