09/08/2026
🌍 On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, we celebrate the remarkable diversity of Indigenous cultures around the world.
The pipes we are presenting today are just some of the many objects in our collection that reflect the traditions, craftsmanship, and identities of Indigenous peoples.
Preserving objects means preserving stories.
1. This pipe features carved decapitate persons on the stem, a design characteristic of the Naga people, historically known for their headhunting traditions. It comes from the Mon region of eastern India.
2. This traditional bamboo pipe was made on the Bird’s Head Peninsula (Doberai Peninsula), in Papua, Indonesia.
3. This pottery pipe, dating to around 300 BC, was made by the Pueblo people of Michoacán, Mexico.
4. This late 19th-century earthenware pipe was made by an artisan of the Yaka people in the southwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
