About the Project

Plains Indian Museum Collections Database - Since 1979 the Plains Indian Museum has been a leader in promoting public recognition of the artistry of Plains Indian people through its internationally significant collections. In 2000, the mission of the Museum was enhanced through the installation of new award-winning exhibitions that provide cultural contexts for the Museum’s collections. More recently, the collections were made more accessible to a wider audience through a project funded by The Henry Luce Foundation. Visitors to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center's Web site can now view digital images and records of selected collection pieces. This is an ongoing project with the regular addition of new records and images.

Collections of the Plains Indian Museum – The Plains Indian Museum houses one of the country’s largest and finest collections of Plains Indian art and artifacts. Originating with the Northern Plains clothing and accouterments of primarily Lakota and Cheyenne performers assembled during Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows, the collection has been carefully developed through the acquisition of major assemblages of Plains material culture including the collections of Milford G. Chandler and Richard A. Pohrt, Robert L. Anderson, J.R. Simplot, Royal B. Hassrick, and Adolf Spohr, as well as important individual objects.

The Museum’s collections contain superb examples of tribal artistry representing many Plains peoples – including the Lakota, Crow, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Gros Ventre, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Shoshone, and Arapaho – among others. Many collection objects also carry considerable historical significance such as items traded by Sitting Bull to the post trader at Fort Randall, South Dakota during his imprisonment there from 1881 to 1883, a shirt belonging to Red Cloud, and Southern Arapaho Ghost Dance clothing. The collections, consisting of over 6,000 objects, include materials from the Northern, Central, and Southern Plains, Northwest Coast, Southwest, Eastern Woodlands, and the Plateau regions.

More recently, the Museum has focused on acquiring the very best works of contemporary Indian artists such as Kiowa artist Vanessa Jennings (Paukeigope), Marcus Dewey (Northern Arapaho), Arthur Amiotte (Lakota), and Emil Her Many Horses (Lakota) to reflect the innovations and continuing traditional artistry of Plains Indian people.