Native American Museum of Art

American Indian Galleries, Levels 2 & 3, North Building

The American Indian collection represents the artistic works of nearly every tribe across the United States and Canada and all artistic traditions created within these cultures from prehistoric times to the present. It offers visitors the opportunity to experience the artistic vision of generations of American Indian artists from across North America.

From ancient puebloan ceramics, to nineteenth-century Arapaho beaded garments, to contemporary glasswork, the museum offers a look at the rich diversity of art forms, histories, and artistic styles coming from American Indian artists and communities. True to the organizing theme of the galleries, Artist’s Eye, Artist’s Hand, visitors are reminded that American Indian art is a vibrant and continuing tradition advanced by individual artists and craftspersons.

Beginning in the 1920s, the Denver Art Museum was one of the first museums to use aesthetic quality as the criteria to develop a native arts collection and was the first art museum in the United States to collect American Indian art. Over the past century the collection has grown to encyclopedic proportions and now contains nearly 20, 000 art objects.

Plains & Plateau

Numbering more than 4, 000 items, the DAM’s collection of Plains material includes six full-sized tipis, beaded cradleboards, ledger drawings, weapons, horse trappings, belts, blankets, headdresses, robes, shirts, dresses, and footwear.

Southwest

This part of the collection features nearly 4, 000 items of pottery, basketry, clothing, jewelry, and katsina dolls, and represent 25 tribal traditions.

Arctic

The Artic collection consists of archaeological and ethnographic specimens and contemporary Inuit graphic art. More than 300 examples of woodblock and stone-cut prints produced by Inuit artists of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s are represented.