The Tribal Partners
(Credit: NSU ARGO Lab)
The Williamson Museum curates collections from a number of American Indian Tribes/Nations. The affiliated tribes are shown here. The button below links to an an interactive map where you can select the tribe/nation for more details about those groups. Shown are Federally Acknowledged Tribes/Nations. They are presented by their respective tribal Historic Preservation Offices and community advisors on the Williamson Museum Tribal Advisory Board. Each community has the THPO and two representatives from tribal artist and traditionalist. They advise on curation, exhibits and museum activities in general. The Board began in 1974.
Basket Day
Basket Day is hosted by the university’s anthropology club as a way to show support for American Indian arts and culture. The event is held annually on the first Saturday in December. For over twenty years, this event has provided Louisiana Indians with a viable outlet to keep traditional crafts alive. The Williamson Museum hosts Native American crafts people and artisans in a major sale-show.
The Williamson Museum Logo
Northwestern State University is built on Caddo Country and, because of the long relationship between the Caddo Nation and the Williamson Museum, our logo was chosen from a Caddo design that dates back to at least 1400 A.D. This design has been found on Caddo ceramics across the Caddo homelands in what are now called Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and East Texas. This design is used with permission from the Caddo Nation and its Chairman Bobby Gonzales.
We are honored to link the Museum to the Caddo Nation with this celestial symbol. In the spirit of unity between past and present, the University and Native peoples, we have selected this symbol of unity. To learn more about the Caddo Nation, go to https://mycaddonation.com.
History of the Museum
The Williamson Museum was established as a museum of natural science in 1923, when it was founded by Professor George Williamson with the donation of his personal collections of archaeological, geological and biological materials. He retired to become the first curator, and the collections were curated and exhibited in Guardia Hall, a major classroom of the Louisiana Normal school.
After the death of Professor Williamson, the collections were retired until the 1950s. Then, as part of Northwestern State College, the museum was reopened with a series of exhibits prepared by Dr. George A. Stokes, professor of geography. It remained in Guardia Hall, one of the oldest buildings in the Normal Hill National Historic District. The entire structure was destroyed by a fire in 1965, and very few of the museum’s contents could be saved.
In 1963, Dr. Hiram Pete Gregory was named curator, and in 1971, the museum reopened in dedicated space within Keyser Hall, at the time a new facility on Northwestern State University’s campus. The museum was designed for archaeological and ethnographic collections, with a focus on Native American communities of Louisiana and the Southeast. This later expanded to include colonial French and Spanish archaeology of the Louisiana-Texas Borderlands.
Situated on the homelands of the Caddo Nation and its neighbors, the museum turned significant attention to Native American cultures of Louisiana. Generous legacy donations by Dr. Clarence H. Webb of Shreveport and Claude Medford, Jr. of Lufkin and Natchitoches transformed the museum into a widely known research center. These collections were further strengthened by cultural and heritage research programs in the Department of Social Science (now the School of Social Sciences and Applied Programs).
In 1974, a volunteer Native Advisory Board was established, including representatives from the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma. With their guidance, the Native American collections expanded, and today the museum houses traditional arts from more than forty tribes across the South and Oklahoma. The museum also curates collections for tribes and nations, including materials protected under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The Williamson Museum continues to work toward co-management with Native American governments in Louisiana and the region.
The museum serves as a repository for archaeological collections from regional sites, in partnership with the Louisiana Division of Archaeology and the Louisiana Office of State Parks. These collections span Native American prehistory through the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, as well as contemporary Native American, French, African American, Spanish, and Creole cultures.
The museum’s role has broadened to support research that connects past and present. It serves as a vehicle for Native Americans to assert and share their contemporary cultures. Archaeological research extends as far back as the Ice Age and also highlights colonial multicultural interactions on the American frontier.
The Williamson Museum sponsors both regional and international research conferences. Its projects have received funding from Native American tribes and nations, the State of Louisiana, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and private donors.
Today, the Williamson Museum remains an integral part of Northwestern State University, advancing the University’s mission of diversity and inclusion. Through preservation, research, and education, the museum continues to present and celebrate the cultures that shape Louisiana and the wider region.
The Williamson Museum is located at Northwestern State University of Louisiana, 210 Kyser Hall, 175 Sam Sibley Drive, Natchitoches, Louisiana 71457. For more information or to schedule a group tour, call Dr. H F ‘Pete’ Gregory at (318) 357-4364 or gregoryh@nsula.edu. Visitor parking passes may be obtained at the campus police station.
To access the Museum once in Kyser, take any stairs to the second floor. The museum is located on the south side of the building. One elevator is currently under repair. For those who need elevator access, the elevator on the east side of the building is operational. Please contact Dr. Gregory for further directional assistance.