The path we share

A frozen, Arctic winter landscape is painted on the background of the curved, horizontal diorama. To our right, a full Moon and its lunar halo shine in the starry night sky. The aurora borealis stretches from the center of the painting to our left. A frozen surface of a body of water is featured in the midground of the painting to our right. Moving to the right, it transitions to coastal land indicated by a rocky ridgeline and large hills. Three igloos making up a small village sit upon a hill overlooking the frozen landscape. A person stands outside one of the igloos. 

The foreground of the diorama transitions into a constructed snow-covered scene. It features a model of a two-family igloo built of snow blocks. A curved wall leads to a small domed entryway, which faces away from us and toward the frozen body of water. A passage connects it to a larger dome. Hunting tools, including harpoons and hooks, stick out of the smaller dome. Around the home, a group of five people wearing hooded fur and seal parkas, pants, and boots engage in various tasks after returning from a hunt. An adult and young person stand near a group of seven sled dogs, ranging in color from white to brown. They are covered in snow. The adult holds a line attaching one of the dogs to the sled. The sled carries a seal, tools, gloves, and bundled packages. Coming from our left, a young person runs toward the pack of dogs. A person to our right and behind the sled drags a seal through the snow toward the home. To our far left, another individual carries a bucket toward the igloo entry.

A coastal forest landscape is painted on the background of the curved, horizontal diorama. Hills covered in pine trees stretch across the scene. The sky is overcast with some breaks in the clouds. Ten large plank community houses sit in a line between the pine trees in the background and the edge of the blue-green water in the midground. They are built of cedar planks with a gable roof. Totem poles, varying in height and design, are constructed at the front of each home. A hole is cut in each of the poles and acts as a doorway. Smoke billows out through hatches in the roofs. People engage in various activities, such as hanging meat to dry or working on a canoe. Many look out toward the water. Some congregate in groups. They wear different clothing, such as grass skirts, breechcloths, and brightly decorated blankets. Seven small canoes are docked across the tan-colored beach. Patches of grass cover the sand, and rocky areas sit on our far left and right of the diorama. A mound of gifts, including baskets, blankets, and oars, is piled in the center of the village.

In the foreground of the diorama, 12 people paddle a large model cedar canoe away from the village toward our left. The canoe is painted with stylized designs on the front sides in red, white, teal, and black. It carries boxes decorated in similar designs. The 12 seated paddlers wear buckskin coverings or breechcloths. Two people stand at the front and back of the canoe. The person in front adorns an orange mask resembling a bird, along with a headdress featuring eight antlers and white furs. They also wear gray fur coverings over their shoulders and torso. They beat a hand drum. The person at the back wears a green helmet that resembles a frog, as well as a yellow, fringed Chilkat blanket. The upper portion of the blanket is decorated with teal and black designs. They hold a carved ceremonial staff with an effigy at the top, which is painted red and teal.

A desert landscape is painted on the background of the curved, horizontal diorama.  A mesa range stands in the distance, and a narrow river cuts through the land on our right. Smaller mesas are scattered around the scene. Large gray and white clouds extend horizontally across the blue sky.

In the midground of the diorama, an adobe village sits on top of a high mesa. The third and fourth story homes are painted from the center of the diorama over to our far left. Each home has a door, a chimney, and square-shaped openings that function as windows. There are no doors at ground level. Tall ladders to access the upper levels rest against the walls of the village. On the third level, painted onto the background, two adult figures engage in conversation. On the fourth level and similarly painted, a person holds a pole into another beehive oven. The painted homes transition to model adobe homes in the foreground comprising the first and second stories of the village. To our far right the desert landscape extends from the background into the midground and in the foreground are two people transporting supplies from the canyon below in the direction of the village.

On the first level of the model village and to our left, two people stand near a beehive oven. An adult wearing a long dark green dress, tall tan boots, and a shawl featuring a geometric print, holds a pole into the oven. A younger person, wearing gray pants, tan shoes, a tan shirt, and a similar shawl stands to her left and carries a ball of dough. In the center of the diorama, two figures haul a large pole at either end. The person in front wears tan pants and a brightly colored fabric belt around their waist. The person at the back wears a long sleeve, dark brown top, and gray pants, as well as a metallic gold belt. Both wear tan shoes. Behind them, a person dressed in a one-shouldered, long, dark green dress and tan boots applies reddish-orange clay to the wall of the adobe home. A bowl of the same clay sits on the ground to their right. Bricks also cover the bottom half of the wall. 

On the roof of a first-story home, an adult wearing a long sleeve, navy top and tan pants empties a basket of corn. To their left, a young child dressed in an orange shirt and brown boots holds a bundle of the corn. They both wear metallic gold belts and headbands. Behind the adult on an adjacent rooftop to our left, a person sits and weaves with a loom. They wear a full length outfit featuring a geometric print and tan boots. In the background, another adult wearing a one-shoulder, terracotta-colored outfit and boots sits in front of a home. They hold a stone mano and a stone metate. On the ground to their left and right stand a pottery vessel and bowl, respectively.

A lake with a mountain range off in the far distance is painted on the background of the curved, horizontal diorama. Clouds are scattered across the light blue sky. An outcrop of rocks and a forest of tall trees, ranging in color from green to yellow to red, borders the coast. In the midground, two people paddle a birch bark canoe on the calm waters. To our left, another person stands in the shallow water holding a spear. The tops of boulders stick out of the water’s surface. On the coastline to our right, a canoe and two birch bark wigwams are featured. One is domed, and the other is conical. People engage in various tasks, such as attending a fire and carrying game. 

The foreground of the diorama transitions into a textured beach scene. To our right is a model of two people constructing a birch bark canoe. Behind the canoe, a woman threads the bark with a needle and fiber. She wears a tanned hide covering. A man stands in front of the canoe with his back turned to us. He wears a breechcloth and places bark against the poles of the canoe’s outer frame. Strips of birch bark lie scattered in the sand around them, while rocks hold down bark pieces inside of the frame. 

A large, conical wigwam, constructed of overlapping birch bark pieces and tall tent poles cut from strong young trees, is featured in the center of the diorama. Its opening looks out toward the water. Sitting upon a fiber mat, a woman sews a tan basket. A completed orange basket sits on her right. To her left and facing us, a young person plays in the sand.

To our far left, a woman carries a bundle of wood under her right arm and another bundle over her left shoulder. Her hair is braided into two plaits. She walks on a rock outcrop toward the wigwam. A large boulder, driftwood, and grasses are also dispersed across the scene.

Painted on the background of the curved, horizontal diorama, an open, grassy plain stretches across the land into a patchy grouping of trees. From our right, a river cuts through the trees and extends toward the center of the landscape. In the distance, tree-covered rolling hills and mountain ranges stretch from our far right to cover two-thirds of the horizon toward our left. Clouds are scattered across the light blue sky. Eighty tipis are placed in intervals representing half of a camp circle. The tipis range in colors, including tan, blue, red, and yellow. Some are painted with geometric designs and pictures. People carry out various tasks, such as horseback riding, herding, tending fires, conversing, or transporting tools and baskets. A group of horses gallops by, while others graze on the land. 

In the midground and to our left is a white and black tipi, decorated with animal pictographs. Three tipis in white and cream colors stand in a line perpendicular to the camp circle in the center of the diorama. An individual steps out of the entrance to the closest one.  Another white tipi decorated with yellow and green geometric shapes sits to our right. The green grasses extend from the background, to the midground, and into the foreground, where a transition occurs from painted grass to modeled grass on a flat surface. 

In the foreground of the diorama and to our right, a model tipi is featured. This is the council tipi, which sits at the center of the camp circle. It is constructed of brown animal hide, and two golden yellow bison are painted on the front and the back. Inside the tipi are a fire pit and a ladder-like structure. An adult man wearing a tan shirt, pants, and moccasins decorated with yellow and red patterns sits cross-legged on the ground in front of the tipi. His hair is braided into two plaits and adorned with two feathers. He looks up at a younger adult male, who signals with his hands to the seated man. In his hair is a feather. A young person, carrying a quiver of arrows on their back and a bow in their right hand, observes the two. Both of the standing people wear breechcloths and moccasins. A black horse grazes to the right of the group.

To the left of the council tipi, a person kneels next to a stretched out animal hide. The hide is staked into the ground. Behind them, pieces of meat hang on a rack made of wooden poles and branches. A dark brown dog stares up at the drying strips. 

To our far left, an adult woman walks alongside a young girl. They wear long, tan dresses and moccasins. The woman guides a rust-orange colored horse toward the center of the camp. The horse has pale yellow mane, tail, and spots on its coat. It pulls a drag sled carrying bison meat.