The goal of exhibition is to share the history of the Spiro culture from its humble beginnings to its rise as one of the premier cultural sites in all of North America.

A nearly forgotten people who created one of the most highly-developed civilizations in the Americas. An archaeological find unmatched in modern times. How did these incredible works of art and other treasures from all over North America end up hidden for hundreds of years, and why?

Spiro and the Art of the Mississippian World seeks to answer these questions and more in the first major museum exhibition on the Spiro Mounds of southeast Oklahoma. It reunites extraordinary objects which haven’t been together since the site was both looted and archeologically excavated in the 1930s and 40s.

Explore the religious and ceremonial activities, farming and hunting practices and daily life of the Spiro people. Learn how a “Little Ice Age” may have led to the site’s ultimate abandonment and what lessons may be learned as we face our own ecological changes today. The exhibition also showcases contemporary Indigenous art pieces that explore the ideas of origin and connect the art and artistry of the Spiro people to their modern descendants.

More than a decade in the making, this nearly 200-object exhibition with companion publication and educational programming were developed in collaboration with the Caddo Nation, the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, and scholars from over a dozen universities and museums from across the United States.

This show will travel from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage museum in Oklahoma City, OK to the Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, AL to the Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, TX.