The museum's Alcoa Foundation Hall of American Indians is full of neat things. Most objects are from four different cultures: Tlingit from Alaska, Hopi from Arizona, Lakota from the Great Plains, and Iroquois from New York. Indians have a rich heritage and you may recognize many of the items on display in the exhibit as things you have used yourself. On the cart visitors will find a lacrosse stick, no face doll, snow snake, and more.
North American
Indians Touchables
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No Face Doll - If you look at this doll hopefully you will notice that it has no face. There is a story behind that. In the beginning Great Spirit gave the doll a beautiful face, but also instructed her to play with the children. Instead, the doll spent all day looking at her reflection and never played with the children. The Great Spirit was angered and took away the doll's face. From then on the doll spent her time playing with the children. Our doll is made of cloth, but the original ones were made from a plant. What plant did the Iroquois use to make these dolls?
Bison Skin Pouch - This is a storage container used by the Lakota. It is just one of the many things that the Plains Indians made from the bison. Their homes were also made of bison skins. What were these homes called?
Lacrosse Stick - This wooden stick is used along with a wooden ball in the game of Lacrosse, a game that was originally invented by the the Iroquois. What is the ball used today made out of?
Snow Snake - This wooden stick was used in a game that is still played by the Iroquois. In the winter, the Iroquois would throw the metal-tipped wooden sticks down a path in the snow. They would bet on whose stick would go the farthest. A medicine man would rub special ingredients on the sticks of his team so that they would slide farther. What special ingredients did they use in the past?
