The Ethnology Collections are divided in to two separate collections; Ethnology Objects Collection and Ethnology Archives. In addition, the collection of Holm/Wright images from 200 museum and private collections is searchable at: Holm/Wright Slides Collection.
The searches are designed to allow you to choose specific data field(s) to look at, to the exclusion of other data fields. For example, if you want to find objects made by artist Steve Brown, type "Brown" into the "Maker or Artist" field and click the Search button. You get only those object produced by artists whose name is "Brown"—and NOT all the objects that are brown in color or from Brown County, ND.
The "Ethnology Objects Collections" search allows you to search the Burke Museum ethnographic object collections. These collections feature material culture, art, weaponry, baskets, clothing, jewelry and textiles from the Northwest Coast and around the Pacific Rim.
These collections are organized by large regional areas. When conducting a search within the "Ethnology Objects Collections" you will first be asked to select a specific region by choosing an area on a world map. You may then choose a specific culture within that region. The "View" button next the "Culture of Origin" field allows you to navigate through a list of cultures/groups specific to that particular region. This list only contains cultures/groups that Burke has collections from, and uses the standardized spellings. For the Northwest Coast area, you can also specify a sub-group from the navigation menu.
In "Ethnology Archives" search you can search the Burke Ethnology division's online database of historical photography, in particular more than 800 photographs of Northwest Coast totem poles taken by Adelaide de Menil in the 1960s.
In "Holm/Wright Slides Collection" search you can search images of Northwest Coast art from 200 museums and private collections.
If you already know the Burke identification number for the object you seek, this is a quick way to find that object's record in the collection database.