This is an installation that we 'll run here at the museum for a year

and it is our gallery of Native North American art.

And, of course, we consider Native American art to begin in Mexico and go northward.

This is a traditional people that we know well as the Huichol,

but in fact they call themselves the Wixarika.

It shows yarn paintings.

It shows beadwork, some of which is a sacred type of objects, such as the prayer bowls,

and some of them are made really for the tourist market.

In ancient times this has always been an important part of Mexico, West Mexico.

There's a long tradition of beautiful art from this area.

In the mid- 20th century, they started to be introduced imported glass beads

from the Orient, from China, from Asia, and these were embraced wholeheartedly

because they are beautiful and tiny and colorful.

The yarn paintings were actually encouraged by an anthropologist named Lumholtz who said,

" You all are wonderful artists, why don't you take what used to be your sacred art

and make it more rectangular," than circular, " and try using this yarn?"

So it's an interesting combination between the people who were the artists themselves

and anthropologists who had the suggestion.

He wanted them to be able to keep their culture as it was.

And that has been their push in their culture.

" We will make art that's not sacred so that we can keep making art that is."