Native American art

First peoples' creations

Native American art encompasses the visual arts, crafts, and aesthetic traditions created by the indigenous peoples of North America.

The term covers an enormous range of practices—pottery, weaving, beadwork, carving, painting, basketry—spanning thousands of years and hundreds of distinct cultures.

Much of what outsiders classify as "art" served spiritual, ceremonial, or practical purposes within its original context.

The contemporary Native American art world includes both traditional forms and modern expressions that engage with indigenous identity, history, and politics.

Opposites
cultural origin

Native American artcolonial art

Art from ruled territories

artistic tradition

Native American artRenaissance art

European cultural rebirth's visual output

neoclassical art · art for art's sake · commercial art · industrial design

geographical/cultural sphere

Native American artEuropean art

Creative works from the continent

Western art · Asian art · African art · Byzantine art

Family

native, American, artistically, Native Americans, Native American

Familiarity
Top 100,000
Profile
Known to kids · Mostly American · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G