Model tipi cover

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This flattened miniature version of a traditional tipi was created by a warrior-artist who decorated it with painted images of accomplishments in battle. Although most of the depictions are generic representations of warriors and horses, the images of encounters with the enemy in the upper center record specific events. During early reservation life, Plains people created objects such as this for sale to visiting military personnel, government officials, teachers, and missionaries.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art