The Salish tribes in western Montana, Idaho and Washington made cradle boards to celebrate newborns. It’s a utilitarian object because it is used as a baby carrier, but they were made for the celebration of the baby. As such, many cradle boards were decorated. Hunter Old Elk, the curatorial assistant of the Plains Indian Museum, said […]
The curator and curatorial assistant of the Plains Indian Museum once noticed an odd odor in one of the museum’s storage areas. This isn’t something that is welcome in museum collections since it usually means something is getting ruined. As they were trying to find where the stench was coming from, they noticed a bulky rawhide parfleche […]
The Nez Perce Tribe historically was a nomadic tribe that roamed the Plains. The tribe is known for their use of color in beadwork using both geometric and floral designs. Hunter Old Elk, the curatorial assistant of the Plains Indian Museum, said they often used black, white and red as well as colors of nature like blue […]
The Dakota people are well-known for their use of florals in their embroidery. Around the 1870s, they depicted abstract natural world scenes like stars and flowers. Hunter Old Elk, the curatorial assistant of the Plains Indian Museum, said a man’s vest from the Dakota Eastern Sioux Tribe circa the 1880s depicts abstract floral art. […]
Museums are collections of objects that tell a story about something. At the Plains Indian Museum, the objects tell the story of the Plains Indian people. But sometimes the materials the objects are made out of are hard to conserve. Hunter Old Elk, the curatorial assistant at the Plains Indian Museum, said there’s one object […]
Originally published in Points West magazine Fall/ Winter 2018 A Living Tradition: Plains Indian Food and Medicine By Hunter Old Elk & Liz Bowers “Whatever type of healer you become, remember this truth: There can be no healing without heartfelt love and compassion for the person to be healed.” — Alma Snell (Crow Nation), Montana When one […]