Background to the special exhibition

Indians - Lost Worlds
June 24, 2018 - September 30, 2018

Everyone knows Winnetou - but how did the North American Indians really live? How did they, as hunters and gatherers, use and at the same time change the animal and plant world? A two-part exhibition and event project questions common clichés. The search for traces begins with the settlement of North America, leads deep into everyday life, makes a detour to the exploratory voyages in the 18th and 19th centuries and ends with colonization by the white settlers. A diverse program of events complements the exhibitions from June 24 to September 30.

The U.S. explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and the German naturalist Prince Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied documented the lives of the Native American population in many ways during their expeditions in the early 19th century. Their journeys, their encounters and observations, but also the consequences of their explorations form the core of the exhibitions. The several hundred animal and plant species they collected still attest to the flora and fauna of North America at that time.

Visitors can discover more than 100 of these plants from different parts of North America in the Loki Schmidt Garden during the exhibition on an 800-meter outdoor Indian plant trail. On this exploratory tour, they will also learn how these plants were used and processed as food, medicine, building materials and for ritual purposes. Then, in the Botanical Garden's greenhouse, 20 themed stations display original objects and replicas from the daily lives of the sedentary, farming and trading Mandan and Hidatsa tribes. Large-scale models such as a traditional sweat lodge and an earth house will also be on display.

The exhibition at the Museum der Natur Hamburg - Zoologie focuses on the animals of North America, on bison, eagles, brown bears and beavers, but also on the changes in biodiversity in the course of settlement and colonization. Various stations illustrate the relationships between Native Americans and the animals of their everyday lives. Selected objects reflect how Indians lived in, from and with nature, used animals as jewelry, food and for ritual acts, but also respected them as mediators to the spiritual world.

Bison were of central importance to the native peoples of North America as a supplier of meat, leather and fur. In the exhibition, the bison represents on the one hand the life of the Indians and, as a victim of excessive hunting by white settlers, symbolizes at the same time the destruction of their habitat and culture.

Many topics and research questions will be addressed in lectures, readings and workshops. There is also an extensive hands-on and exploration program for children and families.