Join Curator of North American Ethnology Peter Whiteley as he leads a video tour of the Museum's Pacific Northwest Coast collections, which includes a giant Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw whale mask, pictured above left.

In the mountains of northern Luzon in the Philippines, the Ifugao people cultivate rice on elaborate terraces with intricate irrigation systems, a landscaping effort grand enough to have earned designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Some households keep carved wooden bulul figures representing mythological deities to ensure good harvests and to protect the fields and granaries. 

For centuries, humans have been fascinated by giant squids, among the largest—and most elusive—living invertebrate species. The Museum's giant squid (Architeuthis kirkii) specimen is one of few housed in a museum in North America, says Curator Neil H. Landman, who studies fossil (and living) invertebrates in the Division of Paleontology.

Of the many Museum programs designed just for Members, behind-the-scenes tours are consistently among the most popular. These tours, which are offered to Members from October through May, provide a glimpse of what’s not usually visible in the public halls: scientists at work, research laboratories, and vast collections of artifacts and specimens from around the world that have not been exhibited.