American Museum of Natural History Research Library
author: American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History. Northwest Coast Hall.; American Museum of Natural History. Hall of Northwest Coast Indians.; Indian Hall; Ethnology of the Northwest Coast of America; Ethnology and Archaeology of Northwest Coast of North America (Jesup North Pacific Expedition); Northwest Coast Hall; North Pacific Hall; North Pacific Coast Hall; Indians of the North Pacific Coast; Jesup North Pacific Hall; Indians of the North Pacific; Jesup North Pacific Coast Hall; Jesup Hall; Northwest Coast Indians; Hall of Northwest Coast Indians; Hall of Indians of the Northwest Coast; Northwest Coast Indian Hall; Indians of the Northwest Coast
birth: 1896
death: present
Permanent exhibition. Opened November 30, 1896. Located on Floor 1, Section 1. The Northwest Coast Hall at the American Museum of Natural History highlights the traditional cultures of Native American and First Nation cultures from present-day Washington State, British Columbia, and Alaska, including the Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka’wakw), Haida, and Tlingit. Curators included Franz Boas, Pliny Goddard, Stanley A. Freed, and Bella Weitzner. Expeditions that contributed to the hall included the Boas Expedition to the Northwest Territories (1894-1895), the Jesup North Pacific Expedition (1897-1902), financed by Museum President Morris K. Jesup, and the Goddard Expedition to British Columbia and Alaska (1922). Expedition members included George Emmons, Livingston Farrand, Pliny Goddard, George Hunt, D.C.F. Newcombe, Harlan I. Smith, John R. Swanton, Will S. Taylor, and James Teit (1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6, 1896, p. 19-20; 6, 1922 p. 10; 6, 1960/61, p. 25; 1, 1911, p. 23; 7).
When the Northwest Coast Hall first opened, it temporarily housed ethnological collections from Melanesia and northern Mexico before they were transferred to a new wing (6, 1896, p. 19-20). The Eskimo collections were exhibited at the back of the hall before being moved to a corridor between the Northwest Coast Hall and the Lecture Hall in 1916 (6, 1916, p. 87).
Cultures represented in the hall include Haida, Tlingit, Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka’wakw), Tsimshian (Tsimshianic), Bella Coola (Nuxalk), Coast Salish, Nootka (Nuu-chah-nulth), Shuswap, and Thompson (Nlaka'pamux). Artifacts include basketry, ceremonial objects, masks, textiles, tools, fishing gear, musical instruments, and woodcarving (9, 1931, p. 34; 10, 1967). The hall, with mural paintings by Will S. Taylor, features large totem poles, house posts, grave monuments (6, 1909, p. 39; 9, 1935, p. 37) and miniature models, such as the model of a Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka’wakw) village on Vancouver Island (9, 1928, p. 18; 6, 1911, p. 23).
The iconic Great Canoe, in the Grand Gallery as of 2017, was first exhibited in the Northwest Coast Hall. Mannequins representing Chilkat Indians were installed in approximately 1910 (2; 9, 1911, p. 16-18), with work contributed by artist Albert Operti (6, 1912, p. 71). The Canoe was transferred from the Northwest Coast Hall to the Grand Gallery in 1960 (6, 1960/61, p. 25), where it still remains, suspended from the ceiling as of 2017.
As of 2017, the hall features a Digital Totem, an interactive installation that is part of a pilot project to bring contemporary Northwest Coast voices and new interpretation into the hall. The installation has a touch-screen portal to the peoples, places, and sounds of the Pacific Northwest. Museum visitors are introduced to indigenous Northwest Coast peoples through photos and interviews, examine objects from the Museum’s collection via 360-degree rotations, listen to local languages, and create their own Northwest Coast soundscapes using recordings of natural features, animals, and local instruments. To create the Digital Totem, the Museum worked closely with Northwest Coast peoples and interviewed members of Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw, Haida, Nuu-chah-nulth, Musqueam, Gitxsan, Tlingit, and Tsimshian communities (8).
Although the hall has been renovated several times, the suggestion of a "damp forest-seashore environment" and its presentation has been retained throughout the hall's history (PG 1967), which is perhaps why the Northwest Coast Hall is credited with being the Museum's oldest hall although other halls, such as the Hall of Primates, have roots tracing further back (AR 1964-1965 p. 4). Many of the early elements in the Northwest Coast Hall, such as the murals by Will Taylor and the tiled floor in the alcoves remain in the hall as of 2017 (2; 11).
In September 2017, the Museum announced a multi-year project to update, restore, and conserve the Northwest Coast Hall. In October 2018, renowned Nuu-chah-nulth artist and cultural historian Haa'yuups was named co-curator, along with AMNH Division of Anthropology Curator of North American Ethnology Curator Peter Whiteley, in the restoration of the hall (13).