The Lowell D. Holmes Museum of Anthropology began in 1966 as the Museum of Man, at the bequest and initiation of Dr. Lowell Holmes, Professor of Anthropology at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas, United States. Over the next 33 years it grew slowly and became known throughout the campus as a small but interesting museum. The collections and exhibitions include cultural items from around the world and archaeological objects predominantly from the American Midwest and Southwest. In 1999, the anthropology department and the museum moved to a new location in Neff Hall. The museum was expanded and Mr. Jerry Martin was hired as Director. This was the first time that the museum had a professional director whose only job was to work with, and develop the museum.
Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States, and governed by the Kansas Board of Regents.
Kansas is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka and its largest city is Wichita, with its most populated county being Johnson County. Kansas is bordered by Nebraska on the north; Missouri on the east; Oklahoma on the south; and Colorado on the west. Kansas is named after the Kansas River, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native Americans who lived along its banks. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the (south) wind" although this was probably not the term's original meaning. For thousands of years, what is now Kansas was home to numerous and diverse Native American tribes. Tribes in the eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys. Tribes in the western part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison.
Anthropology is the scientific study of humans, human behavior and societies in the past and present. Social anthropology studies patterns of behaviour and cultural anthropology studies cultural meaning, including norms and values. Linguistic anthropology studies how language influences social life. Biological or physical anthropology studies the biological development of humans.
Martin's concept was to have the museum essentially run and operated by students as part of their museum studies training. He raised funds to hire student staff to run the day-to-day operations of the museum under his supervision. As of the fall semester of 2006, the museum has the funds to hire five student positions. The museum has a wide range of functions. It has exhibitions open to the public, houses a rapidly expanding collection, a support unit for the anthropology department and faculty of Wichita State University, a research facility for students, a repository for United States Government archaeological collections, and the basis for a growing museum studies program. These different functions provide a very wide range of experience for the student staff.
Important collections housed at the Holmes Museum
Asmat art collection
In 2001 the museum led an expedition into Western New Guinea, where they compiled a major collection of over 950 pieces of Asmat tribal art. In the fall of 2001, the museum received the Bakwin collection of nearly 120 pieces of Asmat art. Asmat art is famous for its large size, beauty, artistic quality and rarity. This collection is rapidly becoming well known. The only other comparable collections in the United States are the Michael Rockefeller Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the collection of the Asmat Museum of Art in St. Paul, MN.
New Guinea is a large island separated by a shallow sea from the rest of the Australian continent. It is the world's second-largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 785,753 km2 (303,381 sq mi), and the largest wholly or partly within the Southern Hemisphere and Oceania.
The Asmat are an ethnic group of New Guinea, residing in the South Papua province of Indonesia. The Asmat inhabit a region on the island's southwestern coast bordering the Arafura Sea, with lands totaling approximately 18,000 km² (7,336 mi²) and consisting of mangrove, tidal swamp, freshwater swamp, and lowland rainforest.
Michael Clark Rockefeller was the fifth child of New York Governor and future U.S. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, and a fourth-generation member of the Rockefeller family. He disappeared during an expedition in the Asmat region of southwestern Netherlands New Guinea, which is now a part of Indonesian province of Papua. In 2014, Carl Hoffman published a book that went into detail about the inquest into his killing, in which villagers and tribal elders admit to Rockefeller being killed after he swam to shore in 1961. Despite these claims, no remains or other proof of his death have ever been discovered.
Southwest pottery and ethnographic art collections
The museum houses the John Morgan collection of Southwest pottery, and the Emma and John Huff collection of Southwest Jewelry. The Holmes museum also has an extensive collection of pre-historic pottery of the American southwest.
Pre-Columbian pottery collection
The David Jackman collection consists of a large number of prehistoric Casas Grande and Colima ceramics. In addition, there is the Aitchison collection which contains a wide range of ceramics from prehistoric Pueblo cultures as well as Mayan, Veracruz and other Mesoamerican cultures.
Colima, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima, is one of the 32 states that make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima.
The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization developed by the Maya peoples, and noted for its logosyllabic script—the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in pre-Columbian Americas—as well as for its art, architecture, mathematics, calendar, and astronomical system. The Maya civilization developed in an area that encompasses southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador. This region consists of the northern lowlands encompassing the Yucatán Peninsula, and the highlands of the Sierra Madre, running from the Mexican state of Chiapas, across southern Guatemala and onwards into El Salvador, and the southern lowlands of the Pacific littoral plain. The overarching term "Maya" is a modern collective term that refers to the peoples of the region, however, the term was not used by the indigenous populations themselves since there never was a common sense of identity or political unity among the distinct populations.
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is Xalapa-Enríquez.
Chinese minority clothing and ethnographic art collection
In 1988 and 1989 some museum staff and volunteers traveled to China to collect clothing and ethnographical objects from the minority Chinese groups. These trips produced an extensive collection from ethnic groups in Inner Mongolia, Northwestern and Southern China, and Tibet.
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia. Its area is roughly equivalent with the historical territory of Outer Mongolia, and that term is sometimes used to refer to the current state. It is sandwiched between Russia to the north and China to the south, where it neighbours the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, although only 37 kilometres (23 mi) separates them.
Tibet is a region in Asia covering much of the Tibetan Plateau. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Tamang, Qiang, Sherpa, and Lhoba peoples and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han Chinese and Hui people. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an average elevation of 5,000 m (16,000 ft). The highest elevation in Tibet is Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain, rising 8,848 m (29,029 ft) above sea level.
Archaeology collections
The Anthropology Department has four different archaeology laboratories to process and research the extensive archaeology collections housed in the department and the Holmes Museum. The collections are predominantly from Kansas and contiguous state and the Four Corners area of the American Southwest. The museum is a repository for Federal Government Archaeological collections and an official Long Term Curation Facility for the Bureau of Reclamations. These collections are used by students for educational and research purposes.
Media resources collection
The museum recently began a program of digitizing anthropological audio-visual material for archival purposes. Most of the old audio tapes, 8mm and 16mm films and video tapes were created by anthropologists in the field or by missionaries. The museum's objective is to create a digitized collection of this material and make them available for research and other educational purposes.
Current exhibitions
Recently a new exhibition opened which shows the current theories on human evolution and physical diversity. One segment of the exhibit depicts Charles Darwin’s round the world voyage on HMSBeagle where he developed his theory of Natural Selection. Another segment shows the separate development of Apes and Man throughout the last 34 million years.
The second recently completed exhibition is called “Southwestern Art: A Story of Transition and Change.” Located in the museum's Jackman Gallery this exhibit features the Morgan Collection of Southwest Pueblo pottery and the Mullen collection of Southwest Jewelry. It tells the story of the importance of the railroad and tourism in the revival of Southwestern Art and how the art has become a major source of income for many Pueblo families. The exhibit includes over 80 examples of beautiful pottery from 14 different pueblos, and jewelry and textiles from both the Hopi and Navajo.
There is also a virtual exhibit which includes home movie footage, artifacts and recollections from missionaries to the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. This interactive exhibit is called "The Wagner Collection Field Journal: 1955-1969". It blends oral history and multimedia to describe the observations of missionaries among the Duna, Hewa and Enga of Papua New Guinea.
The museum has also developed a large and important website on the Asmat people of Papua, Indonesia titled "Art and Culture of the Asmat". Using the objects in the collection, photographs, as well as audio and video clips, the site explores the art, ceremonial life and culture of the Asmat people. Original documentary short films available on the website are also available on YouTube.
Research
The Holmes Museum sponsors a wide range of research and academic programs. There are a number of students in the museum studies program and several on-going and potential student research projects. For example: a number of students have requested to base their master's degree Projects on the Asmat collection.
During the summer of 2003, students, led by the museum director Jerry Martin, traveled to the Guatemalan highlands to collect Mayan weavings and fiesta dance masks and study their symbolism and impact on the local indigenous populations. The objects they collect will become part of the museum's expanding contemporary Mayan ethnographic collection.
During the summer of 2007, the museum director and an anthropology graduate student returned to the Asmat region of New Guinea to produce videos to be used in an Asmat website. This website integrates text, video and audio in order to create a multimedia educational resource for the public. They also gathered footage in the Korowai cultural area.
Location and directions
The Holmes Museum is located in Neff Hall on the campus of Wichita State University.
The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology—commonly called the Penn Museum—is an archaeology and anthropology museum that is part of the University of Pennsylvania. It is located on Penn's campus in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia.
Nampeyo was a Hopi-Tewa potter who lived on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona. Her Tewa name was also spelled Num-pa-yu, meaning "snake that does not bite".
Native American pottery is an art form with at least a 7500-year history in the Americas. Pottery is fired ceramics with clay as a component. Ceramics are used for utilitarian cooking vessels, serving and storage vessels, pipes, funerary urns, censers, musical instruments, ceremonial items, masks, toys, sculptures, and a myriad of other art forms.
William Henry Holmes — known as W.H. Holmes — was an American explorer, anthropologist, archaeologist, artist, scientific illustrator, cartographer, mountain climber, geologist and museum curator and director.
The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is a museum affiliated with Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1866, the Peabody Museum is one of the oldest and largest museums focusing on anthropological material, with particular focus on the ethnography and archaeology of the Americas. The museum is caretaker to over 1.2 million objects, some 900 linear feet of documents, 2,000 maps and site plans, and approximately 500,000 photographs. The museum is located at Divinity Avenue on the Harvard University campus. The museum is one of the four Harvard Museums of Science & Culture open to the public.
The Peshawar Museum is a museum located in Peshawar, capital of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The Peshawar Museum is notable for its collection of Buddhist artwork dating from the ancient Gandhara Empire.
Lucy Martin Lewis was a Native American potter from Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico. She is known for her black-on-white decorative ceramics made using traditional techniques.
The Museo Popol Vuh is home to one of the major collections of Maya art in the world. It is located on the campus of the Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Zone 10, Guatemala City and is known for its extensive collection of pre-Columbian and colonial art of the Maya culture.
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology is a museum of Native American art and culture located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is one of eight museums in the state operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums as part of the Museum of New Mexico system. The museum and its programs are financially supported by the Museum of New Mexico Foundation.
The Museo Larco is a privately owned museum of pre-Columbian art, located in the Pueblo Libre District of Lima, Peru. The museum is housed in an 18th-century vice-royal building. It showcases chronological galleries that provide a thorough overview of 5,000 years of Peruvian pre-Columbian history. It is well known for its gallery of pre-Columbian erotic pottery.
The Asmat Museum of Culture and Progress (AMCP) is located in the city of Agats, in the Papua province of Indonesia. It was conceived by the Catholic Crosier missionary Frank Trenkenschuh in 1969 as a way to preserve traditional Asmat art as well as provide economic outlets to the Asmat people. It was built by the Catholic Crosier Diocese of Agats-Asmat, which also owns the museum, and supported by Crosier Fathers and Brothers Bishop Alphonse Sowada, originally from Elmdale, Minnesota, US.
The Arizona State Museum (ASM), founded in 1893, was originally a repository for the collection and protection of archaeological resources. Today, however, ASM stores artifacts, exhibits them and provides education and research opportunities. It was formed by authority of the Arizona Territorial Legislature. The museum is operated by the University of Arizona, and is located on the university campus in Tucson.
The Berndt Museum of Anthropology is an anthropological museum in Perth, Western Australia, founded in 1976 by Ronald Berndt and Catherine Berndt. The Berndt Museum is currently located with the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery on the western side of The University of Western Australia's Crawley campus.
Paul Sidney Martin was an American anthropologist and archaeologist. A lifelong associate of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Martin studied pre-Columbian cultures of the Southwestern United States. He excavated more than a hundred archaeological sites, starting with the groundbreaking seven-season expedition to the Montezuma County, Colorado in 1930–1938. His research passed through three distinct stages: field archaeology of the Anasazi Pueblo cultures of Colorado in the 1930s, studies of the Mogollon culture in 1939–1955 and the New Archaeology studies in 1956–1972. Martin collected more than 585 thousand archaeological artifacts although his own methods of handling these relics were at times destructive and unacceptable even by the standards of his time.
The Brigham Young University Museum of Peoples and Cultures, located in Provo, Utah, is the university's museum of archaeology and ethnology. The Museum of Peoples and Cultures has a wide variety of collections containing over a million objects. Most of the 7,000 collections come from the regions of South America, Mesoamerica, Central America, the American Southwest, the Great Basin and Polynesia. However, there are many objects from other parts of the world which are available for study and research.
The El Paso Museum of Archaeology presents information about the prehistory of the area surrounding El Paso, Texas. The museum is located in Wilderness Park, and is adjacent to the National Border Patrol Museum at the base of the Franklin Mountains. It is located near several archaeological sites, including rock art in the Franklin Mountains and Mogollon pueblo sites. The museum attracts about 42,000 visitors every year.
Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo is a Native American potter and artist. She is in the fifth generation of a distinguished ancestral line of Hopi potters.
Ron Vanderwal is an American-Australian Archaeologist who has specialised in the prehistoric archaeology of the Pacific and New Guinea in particular. He has worked at La Trobe University and the Museum of Victoria.
The American Museum of Asmat Art is a gallery exhibiting the art and culture of the Asmat people of southwestern Papua, Indonesia, housed at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. Featuring more than 2,200 objects, it is one of the largest of its kind in the United States. Asmat art is widely collected in major Western museums despite the difficulty in visiting the remote region to collect work; the "exceptionally expressive" art "caused a sensation in art-collecting circles" which led to large-scale collecting expeditions in the post-WWII era, according to art scholar and ethnology Dirk A.M. Smidt. The gallery includes a permanent display of Asmat works such as ancestor poles (bis) and canoes, and a rotating exhibition highlighting aspects of Asmat art and culture. Much of the collection is accessible through the museum's online database.
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