Welcome to the "Gallery of The Americas". As you wander through the galleries of the exhibition, we the citizens of The Americas hope to extend the hands of friendship to our Hellenic hosts here in Embassy Square.

We hope this exhibition will be serve both peoples to discover things about each others cultures in this and other exhibitions that will held now and in the future at this gallery.

Arts and crafts

Native Americans worked in many arts and crafts. For the most part, the Indians tried to make everyday objects attractive as well as useful. Indians also produced various forms of oral and written literature.

Pottery.

The Indians created a great variety of beautiful pottery. They made most of their pottery by the coil method, in which pieces of clay are rolled into slender strips and laid on top of one another in spiral fashion. The Indian artist sometimes kept the coils on the pottery as decoration but often scraped the surface smooth.

Inca potters made some of the finest pottery in the New World. The Aztec and Maya painted some of their pottery with scenes of religious ceremonies. In North America, the early Indians of the Mississippi Valley made fine bowls and jars, many in the shape of animals.

Basketry.

Almost all Indian groups made baskets that they used to store and carry food. The Indians also wove fibers into mats and wall coverings, articles of clothing such as hats and sandals, and fish traps. The Pomo Indians, who lived in California, were probably the finest basket makers in the New World. The Pomo sometimes decorated their baskets with shells, feathers, and beadwork. Pomo baskets were woven so tightly that they could hold water.

Carving.

Middle American Indians created elaborate carvings. Large sculptures were used to decorate ancient Aztec and Maya structures or were placed alongside the structures as monuments. The Indians of Middle America also carved jade, onyx, quartz, and other materials. The Northwest Coast Indians made fine woodcarvings. Their ceremonial wooden masks had movable parts. They also carved house posts, grave markers, and totem poles.

Metalwork.

The Andean people knew how to make bronze and how to cast, solder, and gild metals. The Caribbean Indians produced fine pieces of gold work. No such elaborate metalworking took place north of what is now Mexico. But Indians in the Lake Superior region and the Northwest Coast hammered copper to form tools and weapons. They also cut hammered copper into decorative or ritual objects.

This picture shows an artifact used in ceremonial sacrifices of some pre Inca cultures in the Peruvian Coastal Region. It can be attributed to the Mochica-Chimu cultures.

Weaving

Weaving was most common south of the Rio Grande. But the Pueblo of the Southwest wove cotton cloth before the arrival of the Europeans. The Navajo took up wool weaving later and became famous for their blankets and rugs. The Northwest Coast Indians made beautiful blankets of cedar fibers and mountain-goat hair. The Indians of the Southeast wove plant fibers so well that the early white settlers thought the material was actually cotton cloth.

Weaving was also an important art among the Inca. Their weaving of cotton and of alpaca, llama, and vicuna wool was so fine that it has not been improved upon--even with power looms.

Painting.

The Indians usually combined painting with other arts. For example, much pottery of the Southwest Indians and of the Aztec, Maya, and Inca had painted designs. The Aztec and Maya also made large wallpaintings of important ceremonies and historic events. Painted designs also decorated some woodcarvings of the Northwest Coast tribes. The Pueblo were the first to make sand paintings, and the Navajo improved on this ceremonial art.

Literature.

Most Indian groups handed down their folk tales and poetry by word of mouth for centuries. Some North American Indians, such as the Chippewa, recorded some of their tribal songs on bark. The Maya left behind manuscripts that tell of their ancient history. The Inca wrote dramas dealing with great military victories as well as with everyday life.