Williams Co. Entrusts NHMU with Care of Private Collection

The donation ensures expert care and better access to Indigenous objects

SALT LAKE CITY, July 10, 2025 – The Natural History Museum of Utah (NHMU) has been granted stewardship of 18 Native American cultural objects from Williams’ private collection. These items will be cared for in perpetuity by museum staff, who make cultural objects in the museum's collection available for Tribal community members and researchers alike for posterity.

NHMU anthropology staff were aware of the Williams’ sizable collection of Native American objects and felt strongly the objects should be in museum care, where they could undergo tribal consultation and be made accessible to Tribal members in both Utah and the Mountain West.

Understanding the importance of having these cultural items in collections, museum staff spent years fostering a relationship with Williams. When the company moved their Salt Lake City offices, it recognized NHMU would be the ideal permanent home for the objects.

"NHMU is committed to keeping cultural objects accessible to both researchers and the public, " said Jason Cryan, Ph.D., the Sarah B. George Executive Director at NHMU. "We commend Williams for the donation of what was once a private collection, transforming it into a resource that will benefit generations of learners and scholars."

Additionally, NHMU and its curators and collections managers have knowledge and resources not available to most private collectors to provide objects and artifacts with state-of-the-art care, including climate-controlled storage, specialized cleaning techniques, and the latest science on preservation of materials. NHMU’s longstanding relationship with Utah’s eight Tribal nations facilitates consultation so that the museum can care for items according to the wishes of the affiliated Indigenous communities. NHMU’s Indigenous Advisory Committee, which has guided the museum for 40 years, offers direction for the care of the museum’s Native American collections.

"[Native Americans] are very spiritual people. The objects in this collection would have required a tremendous amount of preparation, effort, and prayer, the maker’s spirit will live on through this object. We can honor the Spirit by offering blessings and singing sacred songs," said Virgil Johnson, NHMU Indigenous Advisory Committee, Community member at large. "When these items are held in private collections, they may not be getting blessings or hearing the songs of their people."    

The consultation process is vital to the ethical curation of artifacts and requires relationship building with Tribal leaders and cultural representatives. Best practices also require careful documentation of traditional knowledge and Tribal interpretations of cultural items, as well as Tribal guidance on ethical storage and public display.

"In addition to our long history of guidance from Tribal representatives on the IAC, we also regularly solicit and support consultation and input from Tribal elders, elected leaders, knowledge keepers, and artists," said Alexandra Greenwald, Ph.D., curator of ethnography at NHMU. "This ensures we do not hold cultural items without community consent, we care for items in accordance with community's wishes, and it offers us the opportunity to learn from experts and reunite deep cultural knowledge with the objects in our collection."

A particularly unique object in the donation is a 22-foot painting on muslin. The object is not suitable for frequent handling, due to its age. However, the ongoing digitization project at NHMU will eventually create high resolution photographs of this and the other items in the donation, making them accessible to Tribal members and researchers around the world through the University’s Marriott Library.

The donated items feature a diverse range of artifacts from 10 Native American tribes and are believed to have been made between 1880 and 1930 during the early years of Native American reservations, often called “The Reservation Era.” As Native Americans were forcibly moved from their homelands to reservations, their access to traditional materials and resources used in handmade clothing and goods was limited, and many artists adapted by using mass produced materials. This shift in materials is evident in the donated items, such as a Central Plains Sioux beaded vest, which is lined with cotton rather than traditional hide.

The donation further contextualizes Native American art and offers a diverse perspective on Native American craftsmanship. From vests to drums, the items were likely made for personal use, with many of them showing visible signs of wear, such as scuffs on the underside of saddle bags. Despite the wear and tear experienced by the items during their use-life, they are in remarkable condition.

The items were in stable condition when they were acquired by Williams but they were prepared for display, not for preservation, leaving them susceptible to damage from sunlight. As the items are accessioned into the museum’s collections, they will be prepared in a way best suited for preservation. Eligibility for public display will be assessed in the future. Even on display, the museum mitigates the risk of damage from sunlight and pests.  

NHMU’s relationship with Williams began nearly 15 years ago with the donation of a 10-foot Totem Pole made by Nathan Jackson, an Alaskan native artist belonging to the Sockeye clan on the Raven side of the Chilkoot Tlingit; the first object installed in the Rio Tinto Center, occupying the “collections wall” for five years before being moved into NHMU’s climate-controlled anthropology collections.

Williams began collecting fine art in the 1980s to reflect the diverse locations where the company operated and to connect with its wide range of employees.

“For many years, our employees have had the privilege of enjoying this art in our Salt Lake offices,” said Chad Teply, Senior Vice President of Transmission, Power and Gulf. “By donating it to the Natural History Museum of Utah, the pieces will complement existing collections and be preserved for all to appreciate.

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About the Natural History Museum of Utah  

The Natural History Museum of Utah is one of the leading scientific research and cultural institutions in the country. Established in 1963, the museum’s 10 permanent exhibitions are anchored by its state-of-the-art collections and research facilities containing almost 2 million objects. These collections are used in studies on geological, biological, and cultural diversity, and the history of living systems and human cultures within the Utah region. The museum hosts approximately 300,000 general visitors a year and provides one of the most spectacular private event settings in the Salt Lake City area. NHMU also broadens the reach of its mission through a variety of science-based outreach programs to communities and schools throughout Utah, reaching every school district in the state every other year.