Many American Indian nations on the Great Plains, including the Lakota, would ceremonially smoke tobacco from this type of pipe, known as a calumet, as a part of formal greetings and as a precursor to many rituals. Smoking served as a valuable tool in building […]
This yarn painting was made by E. Gonzalez Martinez, a Huichol artist from Jalisco, Mexico. The Huichol people, who refer to themselves as the Wixáritari, are an indigenous group who live primarily in the mountainous region of northern Jalisco. They are known for their art, […]
This piece exemplifies the Haitian art form of cut iron (koupe fè in Haitian creole). Haitian metal artists traditionally use discarded oil drums as their base material. To transform them into art pieces, they first cut the lids open and make a long slit down the […]
The Longuda people live in northeastern Nigeria, along the eastern banks of the Benue River. Along with their neighbors, the Cham and Mwana people, the Longuda use anthropomorphic pots like this one in traditional healing practices, particularly in the treatment of spiritual disturbances that overlap […]
For almost 3,000 years, the Cherokee people have made pottery in Western North Carolina. The oldest Cherokee pots were large, hand-built, thin-walled, waterproof vessels that were stamped with wooden paddles to create rectilinear and curvilinear designs. The Cherokee used these pots for a variety of […]
This Kalinago basket was collected by Dr. E. Pendleton Banks, the Lam Museum’s founder, during his PhD dissertation research in Dominica in the early 1950s. Dominica, not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, is a small island country in the Windward Islands of the […]