NELSON-ATKINS
89
FIG. 14 (left):
Coat.
Ojibwa; Ontario, Canada.
C. 1789.
Native-tanned leather, bison rawhide,
native pigment, porcupine quills, glass
beads, dye, deer hair. H: 124.1 cm.
Gift of Ned Jalbert in honor of the 75th
anniversary of The Nelson-Atkins Museum
of Art and funds from the exchange of
William Rockhill Nelson Trust properties,
inv. 2008.1.
Photo: John Lamberton and Joshua
Ferdinand.
FIG. 15 (left): Shoulder bag.
Seminole; Florida. C. 1830.
Wool cloth, glass beads, silk ribbon, wool
yarn. L: 74.9 cm.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,
Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Joanne and
Lee Lyon, inv. 2012.27.5.
Photo: Joshua Ferdinand.
torically unique opportunity for the formation of
a wide-reaching collection of remarkable works.
Today, the Nelson-Atkins maintains collections of
more than 35,000 works of art and welcomes some
550,000 visitors a year.
THE FOUNDING COLLECTION OF
NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN ART
In 1931, the museum purchased around eighty-fi ve
North American works from the Foundation of
George Gustav Heye (1874–1957) in New York.
Formed through Heye’s massive collecting efforts in
Native American art, the foundation subsequently
became the Museum of the American Indian and
eventually the current National Museum
of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution.
Although Heye purchased and sold
material vociferously and generally deaccessioned
pieces regarded as duplicates, the
body of works acquired by the Nelson-Atkins
includes an iconic Northern Cheyenne
warbonnet, dating from 1875 (FIG. 2), and
about a dozen other pieces of remarkable
quality. In 1933, approximately 365 more
Native American objects came in from the
Fred Harvey Company, based in Kansas
FIG. 17 (left): Bently Spang (Northern
Cheyenne; living in Billings, Montana,
b. 1960). The Modern Warrior
Series: War Shirt #5 - Homeland, 2016.
Chromogenic prints, hemp, plastic, metal, glass beads,
turquoise. W: 148 cm. The Nelson-Atkins Museum
of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Purchase: The A. Keith
Brodkin Fund for the Acquisition of Contemporary
American Indian Art, inv. 2016.60.
Photo: Joshua Ferdinand.
FIG. 16 (below): Marcus
Amerman (Choctaw; living
in Kooskia, Idaho, b. 1959).
Medicine Crow, 1992.
Glass and metal beads, coated fabric,
thread. 31.8 x 24.8 cm.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,
Kansas City, Missouri. Purchase: The A.
Keith Brodkin Fund for the Acquisition of
Contemporary American Indian Art, inv.
2016.21.
Photo: Joshua Ferdinand.