Mitchell Museum Report

I visited Mitchell Museum of the American Indian located at 3001 Central Street, Evanston, Illinois. Glancing through the outside of the museum, my impression was this is a pretty small building. I had a single story about the building; I thought I might have chosen the wrong museum to go to since it is small in size. However, as soon as I walked through the main door, I had a good feeling in a cozy building with full of American Indian artifacts, pottery, and native fashion. I was filled with more knowledge through the major regions of United States and Canada such as Woodland, Plains, Southwest, Northwest, and Arctic. Each region has its own distinguished culture that were represented by their very own artifacts, material, pottery and clothing. …show more content…
I noticed that pottery was made by every tribe in all the regions, but it was dominated by Southwest. Thousands years ago, people used clay to create everyday objects for household use, also for rites and ceremonies. Because it took a long time to make, pottery became outdated for many tribes, after the European introduced metal containers. Fortunately, with the support of the tourist trade and collectors, potters like Nampeyo (1860-1942), Maria Martinez (1887-1980), and Marie Zieu Chino (1907-1982) developed their traditional pottery to become world famous artists. Therefore, nowadays, pottery is not only a product for daily use, but also a cultural tradition. Looking at the pottery artworks of American Indian, it reminded me of my hometown. In Vietnam, there are also lots of pottery works of art which required much technique to create. It is referred as enculturation where making pottery technique was passed down through new generation by elder