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The Pick Museum of Anthropology at Northern Illinois University

NIU Cole Hall, DeKalb, IL 60115

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Experience the cultures of Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and the Southwest and Plains Native Americans at the award winning Pick Museum of Anthropology.

The Anthropology Museum at Northern Illinois University was founded in 1964 and is operated as part of the Department of Anthropology. The museum houses over 20,000 objects comprised mostly of ethnographic material with some archaeological material. In addition, the museum holds smaller collections from Africa, modern Greece, Mesoamerica, and South America. The museum is particularly proud of the Native American basket collection, featuring over 200 specimens, as well as the Indonesian textile collection, which contains over 600 pieces. In addition, the featured collections, the museum houses about 100 different Indonesian shadow puppets, a fine collection of Thai khon masks, and important collections of Hmong and Karen artifacts. The museum has a growing collection of modern Mesoamerican artifacts reflecting the cultural and artistic changes taking place in modern Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. The museum offers talks, special exhibits and other events throughout the NIU academic year.

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Admission to the museum is FREE! Donations are always welcomed.

All groups are required to request a reservation. Please contact (815) 753-2520 at least 2 weeks prior to your intended visit.

Note: Groups of 15 or more may be split into two or more tour sections.

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