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Art of Native America: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection

July 14, 2023–Ongoing
Free with Museum admission

The brilliance of Native American artists from across the United States and Canada is affirmed in this installation of historical and contemporary works. Honoring the diversity of Native life, the display reveals complex perspectives on America’s past and the deep significance of these artworks to Native and non-Native communities in the present. The work of more than fifty Indigenous groups is represented, as well as major Native American aesthetic forms: painting, drawing, sculpture, textiles, quill and bead embroidery, basketry, and ceramics.

Most of the items—made to be worn; to nourish; to hunt, defend, and protect; to cradle the young; and to restore balance and wellness—are from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Also included are modern and contemporary artworks that demonstrate unbroken aesthetic lineages. All were created against the backdrop of ongoing Euro-American colonialism and environmental devastation. They are organized into seven geographical regions: Woodlands, Northwest Coast, Arctic, Plateau, Plains, Southwest, and California and Great Basin.

This long-term installation consists primarily of promised gifts, donations, and loans from the major collectors Charles and Valerie Diker as well as other patrons. Their belief in the power of these works to broaden historical, cultural, and aesthetic understandings inspired their generosity. The presentation marks the commitment of the American Wing, established in 1924, to foregrounding Native cultural expressions and perspectives in meaningful, inclusive contexts.

Accompanied by a catalogue.

#ArtofNativeAmerica

This statement demonstrates our institutional commitment to respectfully recognizing the original Native American communities and their kinship ties to the lands and waters of this place.

The American Wing acknowledges the sovereign Native American and Indigenous communities dispossessed from the lands and waters of this region. We affirm our intentions for ongoing relationships with contemporary Native American and Indigenous artists and the original communities whose ancestral and aesthetic items we care for.

We understand that these items—vibrant expressions of Native sovereignty, identity, and connections to community and family—embody intergenerational and environmental knowledge, including origin stories, languages, songs, dances, and ties to homelands.

We commit to pursuing continuous collaborations with Indigenous communities and to presenting Native American art in a manner that is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives, involves guidance from source communities, and creates space for respectful listening and thoughtful dialogue. We will work to advance Indigenous experiences in The Met’s exhibitions, collections, and programs.

We will strengthen our awareness of historical and contemporary environmental issues in the New York region and throughout North America, in order to thoughtfully reckon with our institutional legacy and its impact on the lands, waters, and original peoples of this place, which are, and will always be, inextricable.

The catalogue is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Art of Native America: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection is complemented by the exhibition Artistic Encounters with Indigenous America, on view at The Met Fifth Avenue from December 3, 2018, through May 13, 2019.

Audio Guide

Follow Tantoo Cardinal from the Metis Nations of Canada as she discusses Art of Native America: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection with indigenous artists, curators, and more. Hear about how these works of art showcase the many traditions and histories of Indigenous groups in America, while also embracing innovation, acceptance, and reinterpretation.

Cover Image for 9801: Introduction

9801: Introduction

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NARRATOR (TANTOO CARDINAL): Hello, my name is Tantoo Cardinal. I’m from the Metis Nations of Canada, and I’ll be your guide through the exhibition Art of Native America: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I’d like to welcome you to the exhibition and thank our sponsors at Bloomberg Philanthropies for their generous support.

We stand today on ancestral lands of the Lenape Indians. Patricia Marroquin Norby is Associate Curator of Native American Art in the Met’s American Wing:

PATRICIA MARROQUIN NORBY: The American Wing acknowledges the sovereign Native American and Indigenous communities dispossessed from the lands and waters of this region. We affirm our intentions for ongoing relationships with contemporary Native American and Indigenous artists and the original communities whose ancestral and aesthetic items we care for.

We understand that these items—vibrant expressions of Native sovereignty, identity, and connections to community and family—embody intergenerational and environmental knowledge, including origin stories, languages, songs, dances, and ties to homelands.

We commit to pursuing continuous collaborations with Indigenous communities and to presenting Native American art in a manner that is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives, involves guidance from source communities, and creates space for respectful listening and thoughtful dialogue. We will work to advance Indigenous experiences in The Met’s exhibitions, collections, and programs.

We will strengthen our awareness of historical and contemporary environmental issues in the New York region and throughout North America, in order to thoughtfully reckon with our own institutional legacy and its impact on the lands, waters, and original peoples of this place, which are, and will always be, inextricable.

    Playlist

  1. 9801: Introduction
  2. 9802: Shirt, Seminole
  3. 9803.1: Two Chitimacha Baskets With Lids, Ada Vilcon Thomas
  4. 9803.2: Dante Blais Billie On Seminole History
  5. 9804: Incorporating New Materials
  6. 9805: Shakhùkwiàn (Man’s Coat), Lenni Lenape/Delaware Artist
  7. 9806: Comb, Haudenosaunee
  8. 9807: Belt Cup, Anishinaabe Artist
  9. 9808: Rattle, Tlingit Artist
  10. 9809: Portrait Figure, Haida Artist
  11. 9810: Mask, Yup'ik Artist
  12. 9811: Snow Goggles, Thule
  13. 9812: Plains Beadwork
  14. 9813: Black-on-Black Jar, Maria Martinez And Julian Martinez
  15. 9814: Socorro Black-On-White Storage Jar, Ancestral Pueblo
  16. 9816: Joe Baker's Artistic Journey

Exhibition Objects

A slider containing 4 items.
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Headdress frontlet, Wood, abalone shell, pigment, and nails, Tsimshian
, Native American
Tsimshian , Native American
ca. 1820–40
Mask, Wood, pigment, and vegetal fiber, Yup'ik, Native American
Yup'ik, Native American
ca. 1900
Polacca polychrome water jar, Nampeyo  Native American, Clay and pigment, Hopi-Tewa, Native American
Nampeyo (Native American, Hopi-Tewa, ca. 1859–1942)
ca. 1895–1900
Basket bowl, Louisa Keyser  Washoe, Willow and redbud shoots, bracken root, and dye, Washoe, Native American
Louisa Keyser (Washoe, ca. 1831-1925)
1907
Marquee: Tsimshian artist. Headdress frontlet. British Columbia, ca. 1820–40. Wood, abalone shell, pigment, and nails, 7 x 6 x 1/2 in. (17.8 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection of Native American Art, Promised Gift of Charles and Valerie Diker. Native Perspectives: Albert Bierstadt (American, 1830–1902). The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak (detail), 1863. Oil on canvas, 73 1/2 x 120 3/4 in. (186.7 x 306.7 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1907 (07.123)

Plan Your Visit

Dates
July 14, 2023–Ongoing
Free with Museum admission