Symbolism of Three Objects in American Indian Museum

With the advancement of the society, people’s well-being are improved a lot. In that case, the modern civilization enriches the life of human beings. Honestly speaking, at the same time when human creatures enjoy the modern life, it is of significance to respect and treasure the traditional language, culture, customs and so on, for these traditions can never be separated from the happy life nowadays. One of the essential places to value the past is the museum, and one of the famous museums to visit the precious history of the American Indians is the National Museum of American Indian. This museum is located in the North America, and it is the biggest museum about the Indian in the United States. Items in the American Indian Museum including Woman’s Leggings, Puffin Man and Double-spout-and-bridge Bottle, symbolize the women’s pursuit of beauty, Indians’ awareness of self-protection and Indians’ love towards life respectively, which indicates the American Indians’ achievements in arts and life.

The Woman’s Leggings is a pair of women’s boots, and it manifests the Indians’ great imagination and techniques, and the ladies’ pursuit of beauty. To be specific, this legging was created by the Northern Shoshone in about 1910 (Indian Collections). Materials such as glass, cotton cloth and so on are needed to sew the boots. Colorful materials and excellent techniques make the boots beautiful and delicate. On the one hand, the process of making the shoes shows the rich imagination and the master-hand of the Indians. On the other hand, it also suggests that the Indian women are fond of different decorations, and they pursue beauty.

Another collect with symbolic meaning in the National Museum of American Indian is the Puffin Man, which suggests the Indians’ awareness of self-protection. Objects like yellow cedar, cedar bark, and feathers are used to carve, paint and twin in order to make and finish the mask (Indian Collections). As a matter of fact, the abundant materials and techniques are used to make the cover solid in order to protect the face well. In other words, the cover is designed to protect the Indians’ face. Individualism and privacy are also exposed here. In detail, the Indian people tend to protect their individualism and privacy with the help of the mask. In that case, the mask titled Puffin Man in the National Museum of American Indian reflects the Indians’ awareness of self-protection and individualism.

Indians’ love towards life is clearly reflected in the Double-spout-and-bridge bottle in the American Indian Museum. This collection is made of pottery, and there are a lot of paintings on it. On the bottle, there are some small animals and heads of a little girl in different colors. This container can be used to save daily materials. From the drawings on and the colors of the container, it can be seen that the Indians tend to spend time and energy to everyday life, and they want to make their daily belongs colorful and beautiful, and thus showing that the Indians have great passion and love for lives.

Based on the above illustrations, it is quite apparent that the Indians are the kind of people who own high power in artistic and daily techniques. Meanwhile, they are also the kind of individuals who love life. On the one hand, the Women’s leggings show the ladies’ pursuit of beauty. On the other hand, the mask shows their awareness of self-protection. In addition, the pottery bottle manifests the Indian’s passion to lives. Therefore, the Indians love their life, and the National Museum of American Indian is a really beautiful place to value the history and culture of the Indians.