July-August, 19i5 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 5 



Religions, illustrated through photo- 

 graphs of temples and various ceremonies, 

 appear on the next panel, together with 

 short statements on the number of adherents 

 of the four major creeds. 



A typical day in the life of an Indonesian 

 villager is colorfully illustrated on a succeed- 

 ing panel, while the importance of the Dance 

 and the Theater is pointed out through 

 short statements and accompanying photo- 

 graphs on the following panel. 



The following sections endeavor to point 

 out the influence and changes brought about 

 by the Europeans. Two panels deal with 

 the government set-up as it appeared before 

 the Japanese invasion. On them, it is 

 pointed out that the Indonesian, whether 

 literate or not, elects his own representative 

 government. 



The next panel, through pictographs and 

 photo-enlargement, illustrates the state of 

 education and its recent increase within 

 the last three decades. This panel also 

 contains a small graphic outline of the 

 system of education in which the indigenous 

 language schools and the Dutch language 

 schools are shown to run parallel. The great 

 difficulty in educating a population which 

 uses some 250 different languages explains 

 the nece.ssity for this multilingual effort. 



The endeavors made to preserve the 

 ancient culture of the islands are depicted on 

 a following panel. The restoration of the 

 Boro Budur and other temples, the republi- 

 cation of the classics, and the dances and 

 ancient games re-introduced into the public 

 schools are all part of this effort. 



The extent of the public health services 

 and their influence on the daily life and wel- 

 fare of the population form the subject of 

 a separate panel. Due to the lack of inter- 

 racial strife and war, improved health 

 conditions and consequent low mortality 

 rate caused a .serious problem of overpopu- 

 lation in Java, one of the most densely 

 populated areas of the world. How this 

 problem was solved by partial industriali- 

 zation and through emigration to other 

 islands is established through photographs. 



Applied Science 



Three following panels show how modern 

 science and importation of non-indigenous 

 plants have contributed to the welfare of 

 the Indonesian population. 



Modern developments in architecture 

 and communications are self-explanatory 

 in a series of carefully selected photographs. 



The last panel shows the obvious differ- 

 ences between the "Old" and the "New" 

 in the life of the area. 



The backgrounds for the panels were 

 painted by Mr. Gerard Hordijk, noted 

 Dutch painter, and are enlarged versions 

 of actual Dutch East Indian batiks. 



Mr. John R. Millar, Curator of the N. W. 

 Harris Public School Extension, installed 

 and integrated the Dutch government ex- 

 hibits with the selected Museum collection. 



SEASONAL LIFE OF LAKES INDIANS GRAPHICALLY TREATED 



By GEORGE I. QUIMBY 



CURATOR OF EXHIBITS, DEI'ARTUENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 



A new, and distinctly different-type 

 exhibit in the Hall of American Archaeology 

 (Hall B) tells a picture-book story of Indian 

 life in the Upper Great Lakes region during 

 the period about a.d. 1400-1700. 



In the new exhibit which is entitled 

 "Seasonal Life of Northern Indians," the 

 story of these Indians is told visually rather 

 than verbally. The differences between 

 the summer and winter activities of these 

 Indians is dramatically shown by means of 

 two small stylized dioramas which are an 

 integral part of the exhibit. They convey 

 information which otherwise would have to 



were covered by mounds of earth, the largest 

 of which were about ten feet high and a 

 hundred feet in diameter. 



These Indians probably were the ancestors 

 of such tribes as the Dakota Sioux, Ojibwa, 

 Ottawa, Nipissing, Missi.sauga, Potawatomi, 

 and Menomini, .some of whom were 

 described by the early French explorers 

 of the Upper Great Lakes region. 



The seasonal variation in the life of these 

 Indians was very great. In summer time the 

 Indian family groups would come from the 

 interior and assemble in villages along the 

 shores of the Great Lakes. Although the 

 Indians preferred to live in villages, it was 

 only in summer that they had enough food 



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ANOTHER INNOVATION IN ANTHROPOLOGY 



Adding to its many recent new developments, the Department of Anthropology has installed this exhibit in the Hall of 

 New World Archaeology. Thus, for the first time, diorama technique is combined with systematic artifacts. 



appear on a long printed label. The actual 

 archaeological specimens, excavated from 

 old village or burial sites of these Indians, 

 are arranged in meaningful groups in com- 

 bination with the two dioramas. Such a 

 combination is unique. Probably this is 

 the first time that this method of exhibition 

 has ever been used. 



The exhibit is the work of Chief Curator 

 Paul S. Martin, Curator Donald Collier, 

 Artist Gustaf Dalstrom, and the writer. 



The Indians of the Lakes region made 

 their living mostly by hunting, fishing, and 

 the gathering of wild foods, but some of them 

 planted corn in the summertime. They 

 made tools, weapons, utensils, and orna- 

 ments of stone, bone, wood, copper, and 

 pottery. They lived in conical or dome- 

 shaped wigwams made of poles covered 

 with bark, skins, or mats. 



The dead were buried in cemeteries or 



to do so. They obtained their food by 

 planting corn, fi.shing, hunting, and the 

 gathering of plants, roots, nuts, and berries. 



The scarcity of food in winter made it 

 necessary for the village to break up into 

 family hunting bands. And each of these 

 family bands wandered over a separate 

 hunting territory in search of game. 



In summer, the Indians traveled in birch 

 canoes. In winter the Indians walked on 

 snowshoes and hauled loads on toboggans. 



Ceremonial life and burying of the dead 

 occurred in summer. If an Indian died in 

 winter, his body was placed on a scaffold 

 or in a tree. Later the remains were 

 gathered, wrapped in skin or bark, and 

 taken to the place of burial. 



Summer clothing was reduced to a mini- 

 mum of breechclout and mocca.sins. In 

 winter the Indians wore leggings, sleeves, 

 skirts, robes, and animal skin moccasins. 



