British Museum – Warrior of the Plains exhibition

Half term rain prompted us to visit The British Museum which had been on our list for a while because we wanted to see the “Warriors of the Plains” exhibition which runs until April. With Native American ancestors (albeit from the East Coast rather than the plains in the West) we were keen to learn a little more – especially as we had recently watched the rather sad film “Bury my heart at wounded knee”.

Anyway, after a short walk from Holborn tube station (and appallingly poor signs) we reached the British Museum and entered what can only be described as half term crush – there were people everywhere! The moment we walked up the stairs and into the main hall our breath was taken away by the sheer size of it and that dizzy ceiling pattern behind the large central rotunda. There are some huge totem poles in this central area as well. This really is a magnificent museum – so sad that most people go to those in South Kensington and miss this one from their London visits.

So we trekked up the stairs, past the restaurant and found the small bridge across into the maze of upper rooms (you really, really need your map here) and straight into the Egyptian mummy area – which must be the most popular place for visitors. A true Raiders of the Lost Ark moment as we saw the amazing sarcophaguses and even the bound mummified bodies themselves – how small these people were!

Anyway, we continued on our quest to find room 91. We were a little disappointed at first to see that the exhibition covered such a small area but the material there was well worth the visit. A fabulous red (an important colour signifying blood and the life force) ceremonial outfit with incredible beading, pipe bags and headgear of the Brave Dog Society of the Blackfoot – decorated with weasels and ermines which were honoured for their fierceness and ability to hide in the snow as well as huge bear claws.

There were traditional golden eagle feather headdresses – and we learned that they were always in an array as you see in the Western films because the eagles were thought to draw their energy from the sun’s rays. There were stories about the mythical Thunderbird and cases of dangerous looking tomahawks, bows and arrows and the stones bound into clubs (I used to have one as a child). And even real scalps – these were important because hair was believed to contain a person’s life force and taking it gave honour. It was interesting to note that brave warriors gave the scalps they had collected to their wives! Another interesting thing we learned about was “coup” sticks – you were considered more brave if you simply touched your enemy rather than killing them.

There was further interesting information relating to how the Native Americans – deprived of their tribe wars – were absorbed into the US Army and allowed to wear their traditional insignia alongside that of the US Government – and even to practise their war dances and other ceremonies before going into battle. After spending quite a while here we decided to go in search of the Roman Britain areas – it took us a while to find rooms 49 and 50 but we had fun on the way.

We passed through room 58 – where we saw skeletons in the Jericho tombs. We recognised the pot designs in room 73 (Greeks in Southern Italy), admired the statues of Bacchus and the bronze of Augustus in room 70. There were gladiators in the Greek and Roman life displays in room 69 – as well as a lovely little fountain in an ornate pool. In the HSBC Money Gallery one of the “Hands on” sections was operating – meaning that we could actually handle some of the ancient money on display. As we passed the Staffordshire Hoard display we managed to catch the lovely chimes and working mechanisms of the Monumental Carillon Clock (based on the Cathedral at Strasburg). There was a fabulous golden (pirate) ship clock and we stopped a while to watch the mesmerizing movements of the rolling ball clock.

Finally we arrived at room 49 for Roman Britain. The mosaics and jewellery and money were interesting. As we tried to find our way out we passed through the Chinese hall with huge Buddhas and other great statues and we peeked into the huge library of Enlightenment. Finally we ended in a great hall with enormous colourful displays – including the massive construction showing that each person in Britain consumers around 14,000 prescription drugs during their lifetime.

Forthcoming exhibitions include West African sculpture (March to June) and Mexican prints.