
Beaded regalia and moccasins are perhaps the best known objects in the ethnographic collection. Other objects include blankets, rugs, clothing, masks, basketry, jewelry and historic pottery. Ethnographic collections are valuable not only as examples of modern material culture, but also as examples of continuity, or lack of continuity, between the prehistoric past and present-day Native American traditions. Important examples of continuing traditions include the Southwestern Kachinas, objects decorated with beads, pottery, basketry and many other important ethnographic pieces.
*Ethnology is the study of living or contemporary cultures, a branch of anthropology.