Meeting Abstract

35.1  Tuesday, Jan. 5  Natural History of Mammals in Native American Art KENAGY, J.; University of Washington kenagy@uw.edu

The artwork of indigenous people depicts animals that inhabit their homelands and waters. The ethnology collection of the University of Washington’s Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture contains nearly 2000 contemporary prints representing the Native American art form, and many of the animals portrayed are mammals. The artwork reflects in-depth knowledge of natural history. In addition to their artistic qualities, the images accurately depict mammal anatomy and behavior. Some show mammals obtaining or consuming their preferred foods, for example, a sea otter diving for a sea urchin. Others highlight specialized behavior such as a bull elk bugling or a deer “spronking” (with all four legs off the ground). Some prints depict Native American legends. One, for example, illustrates the origin of chipmunks. Another explains why deer fear wolves and includes a reference to the lack of upper incisors in deer. As curator of a museum’s mammal research collection, my experience curating ethnological art for exhibit has been novel. My illustrated talk will provide examples of mammal diversity and insights into natural history that Native American artists have depicted in their work. The Burke Museum is currently showing a series of prints that feature marine mammals of the Pacific Northwest.