EVENTS
Find all our upcoming and past events, and discover the diversity of the Native American collection housed in Paris through conferences, exhibitions and meetings. These gatherings are opportunities to explore this cultural heritage with experts, researchers and Native American partners, creating a space for dialogue and transmission.
EVENT
PUBLICATION
Gradhiva 40
"The Nations of the Great River. A Shared History of French Colonial Louisiana"
Issue No. 40 of the journal Gradhiva is now available. Focusing on the Mississippi Valley in the 18th century, it explores the relationships forged between France and several Native American nations through historical maps, archives, and exceptional belongings preserved in France.
Produced in collaboration with researchers and representatives of the Choctaw, Quapaw, Miami, and Peoria Nations, this issue examines diplomatic alliances, cultural exchanges, and the trajectories of these nations within the context of French Louisiana. It also features contributions from several Indigenous researchers and cultural bearers, who explore the connections between heritage, memory, and the transmission of knowledge today.
Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac
November 19, 2025
Current and Past Events
1725. Native American Allies at the Court of Louis XV
Presented at the Palace of Versailles, the exhibition 1725: Native American Allies at the Court of Louis XV explores the arrival in France, in the 18th century, of several Indigenous representatives from the Mississippi Valley. Through diplomatic objects, archives, maps, and exceptional works of art, it examines the political, cultural, and artistic relationships that developed between France and Native American Nations of North America.
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Les nations du Grand fleuve. Une histoire partagée de la Louisiane coloniale
À l’occasion de la parution du nouveau numéro de Gradhiva consacré à la Louisiane française et aux nations autochtones de la vallée du Mississippi, une rencontre sera organisée autour du projet CRoyAN et des recherches collaboratives menées entre chercheurs français et partenaires amérindiens. Cet événement s’inscrit également dans le cadre de l’exposition « 1725. Des alliés amérindiens à la cour de Louis XV », présentée au Château de Versailles du 25 novembre 2025 au…
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Sharing Collections, Co-Writing History. New Collaborative Practices within Indigenous North American Contexts
Organized as part of the CROYAN project to coincide with the opening of the exhibition "1725: Native American Allies at the Court of Louis XV" at the Palace of Versailles, this international symposium brings together researchers, museum professionals, and representatives of Native North American nations to explore new collaborative approaches in museum contexts. Drawing on the collections of New France preserved in France, discussions will examine the relationships between scholarly research,…
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Exhibition "Wampum: Beads of Diplomacy" in the McCord Stewart Museum, Montréal
L’exposition « Wampum, Perles de Diplomatie » au Musée McCord Stewart révèle la richesse des wampums – colliers de perles de coquillage – utilisés comme instruments diplomatiques entre nations autochtones et européennes du XVIIème au XIXème siècle. Présentant plus de 40 pièces issues de collections internationales et des œuvres contemporaines d’artistes autochtones, elle invite le public à découvrir la portée culturelle et politique de ces objets, porteurs de messages…
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The Seneca Language Today
Jamie Jacobs, a specialist in the Seneca language and culture, will present the history of its documentation and the current programmes for teaching this North American Iroquoian language to future generations.
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Native American Nations Today and their Relationship with France
We have the honor of welcoming representatives of the Choctaw, Quapaw, Miami and Peoria nations, with whom we share a common, and often unacknowledged history. These nations had sovereignty over various territories in the Mississippi Valley, at the time when the French Monarchy laid claim to this region under the name of "Louisiana", in the 17th and 18th centuries. France quickly became aware of these nations' political and military power, especially the four mentioned here, and formed a set of…
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Exhibition « Wampum / Otgoä »
The Wampum / Otgoä exhibit is the culmination of three hundred years of relationship building and the past four years of collaboration. This unique and unprecedented partnership between Ganondagan, the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac (Paris) and the McCord Museum (Montreal) will weave a friendship between peoples and across time. Perhaps more importantly, it will pave the way for future collaborations between European and Native American Indigenous museums that are mutually…
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The Haudenosaunee tatoo. A living tradition
This meeting, which is part of the CROYAN Project, celebrates the practice of tattooing, which combines traditional and contemporary artistic aspects. Michael Galban and Jamie Jacobs will discuss the role of Haudenosaunee tattooing as an artistic practice and a mark of identity in northeastern North America.
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Helping people to see. The art of Peter Jemison
Peter Jemison, a member of the Seneca Nation of Indians, is a politically active artist and a pillar of Haudenosaunee culture. He will discuss his artistic career and his commitment to preserving and transmitting his people's heritage.
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Exhibition « Wampum. Beads of Diplomacy in New France »
Shell beads from North America known as wampum are more than just a raw material transformed into beads. Polished, strung and woven, exchanged and gifted, coveted and imitated, they are a valuable witness to a chapter in the history of New France (1600-1763).
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Exhibition "An Inquisitive Prince"
In 1806, the Versailles Public Library received an extraordinary collection of objects from around the world, most of which can be found today in the musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac. The collections expanded considerably during the nineteenth century, due to the generosity of a number of Versaillais donors. When the musée d’Ethnographie du Trocadéro in Paris took over the collection in 1934, it comprised roughly 534 items from Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Americas.
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