A collection of rare Native American artifacts donated by the Cincinnati Art Museum to the Greek State almost a century ago have gone on public display for the first time at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens for a limited time.
The temporary show titled American Indian Hunters will be exhibited between Friday 6 September to Monday 11 November 2024, in the context of the Unseen Museum initiative that brings to the fore antiquities stored in the institution’s vaults.
Special guided tours in the Greek language on specific Wednesday and Sunday afternoons will explore the culture and traditions of Native Americans and the habit of educational and diplomatic exchanges of archaeological finds between the two World Wars.
Unlikely donation from the US to the Greek state
The Native American antiquities comprising the American Indian Hunters exhibition were sent as a gift by the Cincinnati Art Museum to the Greek State in May 1931 and were kept safe and unseen for 93 years in the storerooms of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
As witnessed by a document from the Museum’s archive, on May 11, 1931, the Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, George Papandreou requested that a box from Cincinnati be cleared through the Piraeus port customs.
The stone weapons and tools sent from across the Atlantic were packed inside a cardboard box and wrapped in pages of The Cincinnati Enquirer of February 9, 1931.
Native American artifacts on display in Athens
The collection comprises ancient stone weapons and tools, used by the indigenous populations of Northeastern America between the 8th millennium BCE and the floruit of the city of Cahokia, 1000 years ago.
Included in the same consignment were three terracotta vases from Arizona and New Mexico, made in the 19th century CE by the Hopi and the Zuni Tribes, which are presented at the Unseen Museum exhibition with the kind consent of the Zuni Pueblo.
The representation of the deer with the “heartline” stands out, symbolizing the hunter’s wish for the peaceful surrender of the animal’s soul, 19th century CE.
