Click any image below to see highlights from the collection, such as basketry, Arctic dolls, masks, and more.

The Burke Museum's Northwest Coast collection is the fifth largest in the United States, with approximately 10,000 items. Equally strong is the Alaskan Arctic collection. The 6,500-piece collection of the Western Sub-arctic, Plateau, Plains, Great Lakes, and Southwest includes baskets, beadwork, parfleches, and pottery. The Native North American basketry collection numbers over 5,200. Pacific Rim collections from throughout Asia and the Pacific Islands include nearly 15,000 items such as kava bowls, porcelain, dance masks, and samurai armor.

The Native Northwest Coast collection includes the important early Swan, Eells, Emmons, and Waters collections, as well as the unmatched Blackman-Hall and Ottenberg contemporary silkscreen print collections, and the Steinman contemporary Northwest Coast sculpture collection.

The Northwest Coast image research database is a major highlight of the department. It includes the Holm/Wright collection of images of Northwest Coast art from 200 museums and private collections (25,000 images), the Harris collection of Northwest Coast silver jewelry images (6,000 images), and de Menil photographs of Northwest Coast totem poles (1,000 images), as well as the George MacDonald Archive of historical Northwest Coast photographs.

The ethnology division of the Burke Museum is currently acquiring portions of an important textile collection from local collector and textile expert Leslie Grace. Her collection is comprehensive, covering Mexico, Central and South America, and Asia, and includes men's, women's, and children's clothing from a wide range of villages.