In 2007, the Tweed acquired the Richard E. and Dorothy Rawlings Nelson Collection of American Indian Art. This rich collection of baskets, birch bark, beadwork, quillwork, tourist art, and treaty portraits—created primarily by Great Lakes Ojibwe and Eastern Woodlands people between 1850 and 1950—reflects the visual culture of this region's Anishinaabe, Menominee, Ho-Chunk, Potawatomie and First Nations people in Canada, among others. The Nelsons also collected contemporary Native art in the 1980s, including works by David Bradley, Patrick DesJarlait, George Morrison, and Angelique Merasty. The Nelson Collection provides the historical context for the museum’s expanding collection of works by contemporary Native and Indigenous artists of North America. After more than a decade of actively collecting, the Tweed houses a remarkable Native and Indigenous contemporary art collection including works by Allan Houser, Truman Lowe, Meryl McMaster, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Preston Singletary, and Marie Watt and regional artists Frank Big Bear, Julie Buffalohead, Andrea Carlson, Jim Denomie, Carl Gawboy, Rabbett Before Horses Strickland, Jonathan Thunder, and Dyani White Hawk.