Founded in 1753, the British Museum was the first national public museum in the world, granting free admission to all “studious and curious persons.” Today, nearly 6 million people visit the Museum each year. The Museum has archaeological, historical, and contemporary collections from all over the world. North American collections are part of the Department of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, which represents the material culture of Indigenous peoples from four continents.

collections 

There are roughly 30,000 objects in the North American collection, representing diverse cultures and time periods. Most of the North America collection was acquired in the 19th and 20th centuries. There is a smaller archaeological collection and current research and collecting continues today.

Regions Included in North American Collections

Collection Highlights

Arctic:

There are 18th century objects collected by explorers and scientists James Cook, Joseph Banks, and George Vancouver. Nineteenth century explorers William Parry, Frederick William Beechey, Edward Belcher, John Barrow, the Fifth Earl of Lonsdale collected objects from the Bering Strait and northern Alaska, and the central and eastern Canadian Arctic. Objects include fur clothing, gut parkas, sleds, kayaks (models and full size) hunting equipment - harpoons, spears, atlatls, bows and arrows, engraved bone, lithic implements, soapstone sculptures, engraved ivory, stone, bone and wood utensils and vessels, wooden drying racks and pelt stretchers, snow shoes, masks, and basketry. There are also late 20th century collections of Inuit, Iglulingmiut, Inupiat, Yupik, Alutiiq, Aleut, and Greenlandic garments, hunting equipment, domestic tools, wooden sleds, boats, and drums. 

Northeast and sub-arctic:

There are 18th century collections from Sir Hans Sloane. Nineteenth century objects were collected by Henry Christy, William Bragge, and Lord John Russell. Objects include skin clothing decorated with beads, seeds and quill, impressed paint, early wampum (shell and glass), quill and beaded moccasins, masks, smoking pipes and stems, song boards and scrolls, skin robes, tump lines, finger woven bags and sashes, birch bark containers, boxes and birch bark canoes. Huron, Algonquian, Iroquoian, Metis, Ojibwa, Cree, Micmac, Seneca among peoples whose objects are present in the collection. Well documented archaeological collections come from objects received from the Blackmore Collection (Salisbury Museum) the majority are from Ohio, excavated by Squire and Davis in the early 19th century from the Middle Woodland sites, comprising smoking pipes, pottery, lithic implements, and some gold.

Northwest Coast:

In the 18th century, objects were collected by James Cook, George Vancouver and Joseph Banks. In the 19th century, objects were collected by C. Comrie, Lord John Russell and John Henry Keen. 20th century collectors include William Ockelford Oldman, and Henry Beasley. Objects include ceremonial and funerary objects - masks, rattles, robes, coppers, bentwood boxes, combs, grease bowls, horn ladles, staffs, slatted armour, clubs, hunting equipment, fish traps and clubs, fish hooks, baskets and basketry hats, woollen and bark robes, and model canoes. There are also large wooden sculptures, totem poles and argillite sculptures. A large portion of the NWC collections were made by Haida, Tlingit, Kwakwaka'wakw, Salish, Nuu-chah-nulth, and Nisga’a peoples. 

Southwest:

There is a large collection of early, pre-Columbian pottery - Hohokam among others and a large collection of late 19th/early 20th century Puebloan ollas. There are early 20th century Kachina doll figures, Navaho textiles, pottery, and silver jewellery.

Southeast:

There is a small collection of southeast objects, represented by clothing, basketry and pottery. The majority of this collection is late 20th century Seminole and Cherokee.

Plateau/California:

There are a small number of objects collected by George Vancouver in the 18th century. Rev Selwyn Freer collected objects from coastal Chumash sites between San Francisco and L.A. Rev. R.W. Summers collected objects in Oregon and California in the 19th century. Objects include baskets, basketry hats, bags and vessels; bows and arrows, skin bags and parfleches. Collections were acquired from tribes such as the Chumash, Yurok, Karuk, Hupa, Modoc, Klamath, Yamhill, Klickitat, and Nez Perce. 

There is a large photographic archive on paper. Much of these are European records of Native American life. There are also works by Native North Americans, including Plains Indian ledger drawings, contemporary Inuit prints, Northwest Coast formline prints, and some Plains art pieces.

Resources

• Collection Online Database
  All collections at the British Museum can be accessed via the Collections Online database. Most objects in the collection are photographed and available on the database.

• Library and research material
  The Anthropology Library and Research provides access to information about its collections, as well as an identification service.

• Visit the collections
  Community members and researchers can make appointments to visit objects that are not on display in the galleries.

• Human Remains Policy

Questions and Inquiries

For all inquiries, contact aoa@britishmuseum.org

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