Artifact of the Month

This colorful textile made by the Kuna people of the San Blas Islands in Panama is known as a mola. Molas form an important part of a Kuna woman’s traditional clothing. Click the link to learn more.

This model of a kayak was made by the Yup’ik people in the Kuskokwim River Valley of Alaska. It was collected by Moravian missionaries who worked in the area beginning in the late 1880s. Click the link to learn more.

This wooden carving from Canindé, Brazil, is known as an ex-voto or milagre (Portuguese). Ex-votos can take the form of paintings or sculptures made from a variety of materials. Click the link to learn more.

This ceremonial flute is from the Mumeri Village in the Middle Sepik region of Papua New Guinea. Click the link to learn more.

This 1976 framed lithograph by Canadian Inuit artist Pitseolak Ashoona is titled “Memories of Childbirth.” Click the link to learn more.

This Yoruba object from Nigeria is known as a house of the head, or ile ori. The Yoruba believe that the head is the seat of a life force that determines a person’s essential nature and destiny. Click the link to learn more.