Abstract
The Natural Face of North America makes accessible the Maximilian-Bodmer collection, which documents the 1832-34 expedition of Prince Maximilian zu Wied and artist Karl Bodmer along the Missouri River. Together they documented the environments, peoples, and cultures they encountered. The website presents Maximilian’s journals and 400+ artworks by Bodmer in a searchable platform with multiple entry points into the collection through text, image, geography, and language.
The project transforms this archive into an interactive, interpretive environment designed for public exploration. Users can trace the expedition’s route on an interactive map, explore multimedia featuring Native elders and leaders, and listen to recordings of vocabulary spoken by contemporary Native language speakers. This layered approach presents new opportunities to critically engage expedition documentation and the historical context from which it emerged.
The project is a collaboration between Creighton University, Joslyn Art Museum, and Nebraska Indian Community College. The website’s design, functionality, and interpretive content were developed with consistent input from tribal nation members to ensure accuracy, cultural sensitivity, and respectful representation. Indigenous and non-indigenous educators collaborated to develop K–12 curriculum materials on nineteenth-century Plains Indigenous life. Scholarly essays address key interpretive themes, including environmental and art history, and reinterpret the expedition’s significance through the lens of Omaha, Mandan, and Hidatsa history and culture.