Category: Fine Arts, Text, Native American history, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnesota

  The Art of Daily Life There is no equivalent in the many Native American languages for the word art . Yet the objects here suggest that Native Americans are a highly spiritual people who create objects of extraordinary beauty. In Native American thought there is also no distinction between what is beautiful or functional, and what is sacred or secular. Design goes far beyond concerns of function, and beauty is much more than simple appearances. For many native peoples, beauty arises from living in harmony with the order of the universe.The concerns and aspirations of a vital contemporary American Indian population changes as the world changes.