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[[underlined]]Museum of the American Indian
New York City[[/underlined]]

At the January 22, 1976 meeting of the Board of Regents the Vice President raised the matter of the very large and valuable collection of American Indian art at the Museum of The American Indian (Heye Foundation) in New York City, and the possibility that the collection could be acquired by the Smithsonian Institution and housed in a new building on the last site on the Mall.  As this possibility would be dependent upon many factors, it was

VOTED that the Secretary is authorized to explore the status of the New York collection, evaluate it and advise the Regents of any viable options; and insure that the Regents and the Institution are sensitive to including in our diverse spectrum the role of the American Indian.

The Museum of The American Indian collection is the largest and most important collection of New World archeological and ethnological material in the world.  It is well-balanced, with a representative sampling of all areas of North America forming the bulk of its material, and includes a large quantity of Mexican, Central and South American specimens.  It is probably surpassed in strength only by the National Museum in Ottawa, which in the last ten years has actively acquired extensive additions to its collections through considerable expense.

From 1910 to 1930 its specimens were collected by Heye-supported field work done by professionals who met the standards of the time and were augmented by early ethnological material purchased by Heye in Great Britain until the 1930's.  This latter material, often documented only by the notation "Purchased in Great