One of four museums in the Museum of New Mexico system, MIAC is a premier repository of Native art and material culture of the people of the Southwest, from pre-history through today. The museum aims to inspire appreciation for the diverse native arts, histories, languages, and cultures of the Greater Southwest. The collection comprises more than 75,000 exhibition objects including historic and contemporary pottery, spanning the mid-17th century through the present, with examples from all the Pueblos and tribal communities of the Southwest.
Archaeological artifacts include a 151-ft-long hunting net made of human hair (circa AD 1200) in southern New Mexico, a ceremonial bead cache from Chaco Canyon, Anasazi and Mogollon ceramics, stone tools, and artifacts,such as yucca sandals and prehistoric baskets, which are highly perishable.
The textile and clothing collections span the contact period through the present. The Navajo and Pueblo weavings are considered one of the finest Southwestern textile collections in the world, with some of the earliest Navajo textiles in existence, dating from 1750 to 1803, plus a large collection of exemplary Navajo blankets from the 19th-century.
The museum also holds contemporary art including sculpture and works on paper and canvas.