Ethnological Artifacts in the Science & Technology Collection

The ethnology collection primarily consists of Native American artifacts from tribes both inside and outside of Louisiana. Prominent items in the collection include pottery, spear points, cooking balls, and beads. Of particular interest in the ethnology collection are several Native American baskets. The most significant baskets in the museum’s collection can be traced back to Coushatta, Chitimacha, and Choctaw tribes. Types include large flat baskets (or tapa), winnowing baskets, sieves, elbow baskets, pointed baskets, double-woven covered baskets, and pack baskets.

Read about NAGPRA at the Louisiana State Museum (PDF)

Chitimacha Basket
20th Century
Louisiana State Museum

Double woven lidded storage basket.

Bowl
Neo-Indian Period
Gift of Dr. W. Lawrence Stevenson
Louisiana State Museum

Cooking Balls
Neo-Indian Period
Louisiana State Museum

Louisiana Native Americans used clay cooking balls like this for roasting and baking. The balls were first heated in a fire and then placed in an oven with the food. Other Native Americans used stones for the same purpose, but lacking stone, Louisiana Native Americans adopted these clay substitutes.