Yesterday I got called out from the Montana Dinosaur Center – what are the 5 best basket museums? Someone had asked for my expert opinion. How did that come about?
Backstory: A couple of weeks ago, I was in Montana. Between Great Falls and the eastern entrance to Glacier National Park, along Hwy 89, sits the small enclave of Bynum. If you drive by, you’ll see the statue of Rusty the Daspletosaurus outside of the museum, which shares its parking lot with the Trex Agate Shop, packed with rock and fossil treasures. But – don’t drive by. This is definitely worth the stop!
I was there for two days of digging dinosaurs. It was a really incredible experience. My son dug up hadrosaur vertebrae and a toe bone, I found a piece of rib, others uncovered a tyrannosaur toe and tooth fragment. You might imagine the excitement of being the first humans ever to see and touch these items!
On the ride to the dig site, the paleontologists told us all kinds of information about the rock formations, dinosaur facts, local history, Jurassic Park, you name it. During the dig, there was a lot of chatting between the paleontologists and the guests. It came out that I knew a thing or two about basketry, thus the shout-out question to me yesterday.
The Best Basket Museums that sprung to mind first are listed here. They are not limited to five. The reasoning behind my list follows.
1) The Southwest Museum of the American Indian, now part of the Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles, CA.
https://theautry.org/
I told my husband about the request and what I’d replied. He immediately added these two, and I whole-heartedly agreed:
9) Museum of Anthropology, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
https://moa.ubc.ca/
Now, for the reasons of why I came up with this particular list. It should be noted that there is a difference between the Best Basket Museums with baskets on display, and best basket collections in museum storage. One can hope that the baskets will continue to rotate on and off display at all of these institutions.
 |
Bryn Potter, Curator of Basketry,
working in the Southwest Museum's
Poole Basketry Storage area. |
The Southwest Museum of the American Indian’s collection is the best. Yes I am definitely biased with this one, as I was Curator of Basketry for this collection for many years. Their last purely basketry exhibition was in 2009. The Southwest Museum became part of the Autry Museum, Los Angeles, California, in 2004. The Autry doesn’t have much basketry on display currently.
The Abbe Museum has a lovely setting for Eastern baskets, one building is within Acadia National Park. Years ago I was fortunate to be able to attend the Abbe’s Native Arts Market, where I met a number of excellent basketweavers who not only had baskets for sale, but had baskets exhibited in the museum. The museum has two campuses. As of this writing (6/22/2024), the Sieur de Monts Spring in Acadia National Park building is closed for maintenance.
The Nevada State Museum has extremely well done exhibitions produced with Indigenous input. Displays include outstanding ancient basketry. The museum has fossils too.
The Arizona State Museum currently has a fine basket exhibit up through the end of July 2024, in conjunction with Diane Dittemore’s new publication Woven From the Center: Native Basketry in the Southwest. From their website: “ASM’s existing collection—designated an American Treasure and given the moniker ‘Woven Wonders’ in 2006 as the world’s largest, most comprehensive, and best documented assemblage of American Indian basketry.” This claim takes into account the copious amount of ancient basketry fragments in the collection. Alas, they too will be closing for renovations later this summer, so check the dates if you plan to visit.
The Heard Museum has excellent exhibits about Indigenous people in Arizona, each section contains examples of basketry. They have a current exhibition about the Basha Family Baskets.
The National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian, includes baskets in many of its exhibits, plus a good number of them in their educational open storage display.
The Burke Museum. I was there in 1990 to see the exhibition A Time of Gathering: Native Heritage in Washington State and remember being awed by the basketry. They also have a very good collections online database. I am way overdue for another visit.
The Museum of Riverside celebrates 100 years in 2024. Formerly called the Riverside Municipal Museum and Riverside Metropolitan Museum, it started life as the Cornelius Earle Rumsey Indian Collection. It’s currently closed for renovations. This is among the best documented collections, as Dr. Christopher Moser, Riverside’s late, great curator, published four books on their California baskets. Again, I am biased with this one as I worked with Chris, and later curated many exhibitions there as a museum consultant.
The Museum of Anthropology, UBC. This is a treasure trove of basketry, a real treat for the eye and the mind. They might have the most baskets on display as they have open storage and hundreds of baskets are visible.
The Hoopa Tribal Museum has a unique and very special mission. According to their website: “The Hoopa Tribal Museum is a ‘Living Museum,’ in that most of the artifacts and items of cultural patrimony are still actively being used by members of the tribe for tribal ceremonies and functions. The exhibitions are not just for public display. They are still being used for their original intended purposes in an active culture. The museum is unique in the world because this is their core premise and function. The museum is for the Hupa people and not just about them. More than half of the artifacts are owned by local Hupa families on the Reservation the rest belonging to the Hoopa Valley Tribe as a whole.” In other words, if there is a ceremony coming up, family members can retrieve regalia from the museum and use it in the ceremony. What a fabulous model for Indigenous ownership, use, and preservation.
I did not include other large museums which have hordes of baskets, simply because I have not been there to see them for myself. This includes the Field Museum in Chicago. New York City’s American Museum of Natural History has a great collection, but I’ve never been in their collection storage. Their South American Gallery has interesting items, but when I visited a few years ago, their North American Gallery was dusty, sad, and in need of renovation. With the new NAGPRA guidelines for exhibition of Indigenous items, this is sure to be updated. [Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990. Feb 9, 2024 Some notable changes include: Requiring museums and federal agencies to obtain free, prior, and informed consent from lineal descendants, Tribes, or NHOs before allowing any exhibition of, access to, or research on human remains or cultural items. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nagpra/index.htm ]
There are significant collections belonging to California tribes that have small exhibition areas, notably: Barona Band of Mission Indians, Morongo Band of Mission Indians, Pechanga Band of Indians, Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians. The Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center is planning their grand opening in 2024.
Other collections of note include: Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art; Phoebe Apperson Hearst Collection at University of California, Berkeley; Plains Indian Museum at Buffalo Bill Center of the West; The Grace Hudson Museum and Sun House. Plus there are Native American baskets in European collections in Berlin, Copenhagen, Madrid, St. Petersburg, and more. And the list goes on!
“Best Of” lists like this are tough for me to make. Some museums – private, public, and tribal - have fabulous collections that are not on display due to lack of space or temporary closures. Do you have a favorite? I’m always looking for recommendations for future basket-seeking excursions!
