Collections

North America

Horniman Museum & Gardens


The Horniman has a diverse collection of North American artefacts on display including a fine display of Native American headdresses, beaded buckskin shirts and pipe bags from Dakota and the North American Plains. Other objects include a stunning selection of Katsina dolls from the Hopi people who live in the dusty dry lands of Northern Arizona, New Mexico. Meanwhile, the Horniman’s famous stuffed Walrus from Hudson Bay forms the centrepiece of the Natural History Gallery.

In 1966, a hereditary Medicine Man of the Navaho People, Fred Stevens, was commissioned to create a sandpainting. The spectacular Whirling Log design on display in the Horniman’s Gallery Square classically depicts the religious beliefs of the Navaho people who use the paintings to cure illnesses or secure good harvests.

Uniquely, this intricate sandpainting was preserved with the agreement of the painter who omitted a small number of features so that it remains incomplete. Upon completion, the design must be destroyed as part of the ritual.

In 1985, Nathan Jackson, of the Tlingit people of Alaska, carved and presented the museum with a 25ft totem pole. The totem can be seen near the museum’s main entrance overlooking London Road.

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Location: Horniman Museum & Gardens

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100 London Rd Forest Hill

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