Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Brown University

Come to hear Eva Andersson Strand of The Danish National Research Foundation's Centre for Textile Research, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. In Viking Age society there has been a need for a wide variety of textiles; textiles for clothing, sails etc. There is no doubt that textiles and production had an important economic and social impact […]

The assault by the United New England Colonies on the Narragansett stockade in the Great Swamp (Quawawehunk) marked a turning point in Native American and English colonial sovereignty in southern New England. This talk will elucidate the cultural and political forces that collided in this momentous fight. The event is presented by William Simmons, Professor […]

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith is a Native American contemporary artist and a member of the Flathead Nation. She will present an overview of Native art today that looks at new media such as installation, performance, photography as well as artists who are trained in painting, sculpture and clay with a Native ideology. Jaune will also present a […]

This talk, given by Ruth Phillips, Carleton University, re-examines the critical role played by the taste for primitive art in the emergence of contemporary Indigenous artistic modernisms in Australia and Canada. Using the examples of expatriate German anthropologist Leonhard Adam-- author of the widely read 1940 Penguin Primitive Art-- and the Austrian-born artist George Swinton-- […]

Preston Singletary's work with glass challenges the notion that indigenous artists are only best when traditional materials are used. He has helped advocate on the behalf of all indigenous peoples through his art, connecting ancient Native styles to current modern art movements.  His artistic style continues to evolve and develop, keeping the work fresh and relevant while […]

In the 19th century Plains Indian warriors told stories of their heroic deeds by drawing them on pages of a ledger book. In the last forty years this form has been adapted by Native women artists to tell stories of women's lives of the past and present. Author Richard Pearce explores the history of this […]

Anthropologist are explorers. We travel to exotic locales to excavate ancient ruins or learn from indigenous communities. Many of the materials gathered in our research are now in the storerooms and laboratories of University museums. In this talk, Carla Sinopoli (University of Michigan), opens the storerooms of the remarkable Asian collections of the University of […]

Presented by Gloria O'Neill, President and CEO, Cook Inlet Tribal Council Learn how a tribal nonprofit organization in Anchorage Alaska and its partners created a new precedent for sustainability and self-determination. As told through the lens of the Inupiat people of Arctic Alaska, the global launch of the puzzle-platformer “Never Alone (Kisima Inŋitchuŋa)” established a […]

Inupiat Eskimo of Northwest Alaska first encountered European explorers in 1816, when a Russian expedition arrived in Kotzebue Sound. But archaeological research shows that European and Asian trade goods like beads and metal tools were already present in the region. Excavations lead by Doug and Wanni Anderson, Brown University, along the Kobuk River have revealed […]

Stemming from enduring appropriation of Indigenous material culture, Dr. Jessica R. Metcalfe (Turtle Mountain Chippewa), will speak about how her blog Beyond Buckskin applied creative entrepreneurship as a platform to address local and global social issues. Dr. Metcalfe is a graduate of Dartmouth College and holds a Ph.D. in American Indian Studies from the University […]