The area takes acute interest and holds closely to it’s roots through their commitment to the geography and history of Flagstaff. This can be appreciated through their involvement in anthropology, biology and Native American earlier times.
Bearing that out, The Museum of Northern Arizona houses nearly 5 million objects in its anthropology, biology, fine art, and geology collections.
The Anthropology Collection is subdivided into Ethnographic (historic Native American) and Prehistoric Collections. The Ethnographic Collections contain significant holdings of baskets, katsina dolls, jewelry, and Hopi and Navajo textiles. Smaller collections represent the material culture of the Apache, Zuni, and Pai.
The Prehistoric Collections focus on the ancient Puebloan cultures and include sandals, arrow points, ceramic vessels, and many other types of artifacts of the Colorado Plateau. The Biology Collection features the Walter B. McDougall Herbarium of plant specimens from northern Arizona as well as insect, fish, reptile, bird, and mammal specimens from the area.
The Fine Art Collection is comprised of sculptures, etchings, and paintings. Highlights of the collection include paintings by Museum cofounder Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton as well as works by young Native American artists.
The Geo-Collections, illustrates every geologic period of the Colorado Plateau with dinosaur, reptile, mammal, plant fossil, mineral, and rock specimens.
Flagstaff honors cultural diversity celebrating the magnificent Colorado Plateau through Native through stories, dances, and songs.
