Frisco Native American Museum & Natural History Center

07/30/2026

If you HAD to choose, which piece with basket do you prefer? Simply react with the 👍or the ❤️ to cast your vote!

07/21/2026

It's National Moth Week!

We had our moth night in June and it's officially listed on iNaturalist! We still have some images to load from some folks, but we're pretty comfortable that 228 species is likely the limit on what we saw.

Can you believe it?! 228 individual species!

What's your favorite moth? Would you attend a moth night in the future?

Share any pics of your favorite moths below.

Nocturnal insect observations made at the Frisco Native American Museum & Nature Center in Frisco, NC on June 24, 2026

07/14/2026

Come and See Our Eel Basket

One of the baskets that you will find in our exhibit on Outer Banks natives is this exquisite eel basket. Eel was a staple food for tribes along waterways and these baskets, usually made from willow bark, were the most effective way at catching these slippery creatures. At first glance, the basket looks like an unfinished tube, but it's got a secret!...

One of the baskets that you will find in our exhibit on Outer Banks natives is this exquisite eel basket. Eel was a staple food for tribes along waterways and these baskets, usually made from willo…

07/10/2026

Come and Learn About Native Dance

We are so excited to welcome long-time volunteers Thunder & E Nah Dah of the Eastern Band Cherokee to share with all of you! In just a week, come and learn about the significance of the drum and dancing in native cultures. Have you wondered why all the Powwow's have drumming and dancing as the main event? Why a drum and not flutes and rattles?...

We are so excited to welcome long-time volunteers Thunder & E Nah Dah of the Eastern Band Cherokee to share with all of you! In just a week, come and learn about the significance of the drum an…

07/02/2026

VISITOR QUESTIONS!

One of our visitors recently asked what the original lacrosse balls were made out of. Down the rabbit hole we went and found the answers!

It depends on tribe and the time period. One of the hurdles is that by the time there was more documentation being done about indigenous people, the influence of the colonists were already being felt.

Some early records say the balls were carved from wood. Later reports say they were deer skin balls stuffed with fur.

But there was one interesting diversion coming from Mohawk voices... the ball was made from the head of a sturgeon.

There's not much documentation and western academic sources seem to only briefly mention it as a rumor. However, we stumbled across a video of some Mohawk folks remaking a ball and discussing how the translation for the recipe needed deciphering.

The skull of a sturgeon is dense and full of cartilage, so it bounces. When the head of an adult is cut down for such a purpose? It weighs the same as a modern regulation ball!

That's not to say other sources are inaccurate with their notes of wooden or leather balls. It's just more pieces to a puzzle!

To see the video of the creation of a sturgeon head ball, go to https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BQ6K2GFhm/

07/02/2026

VISITOR QUESTION!

We had a really interesting question that was asked from someone in the museum. They had heard that gourds were the preferred housing for purple martins because the gourd naturally was resistant to mold and other microbes.... was that true?

So we went to the experts to find out!

Seems that the gourds ARE preferred as hosting for the birds, but not for the reasons our lovely guests were told.

Gourds used for purple martin houses are round on the bottom with a longer skinny tube. When ventilation holes are drilled, they are cooler in the summer and warmer in the fall than more traditional wood bird houses. The round bottom also provides a lot of moving around space for a large brood of younglings.

Most importantly, starlings and sparrows prefer more traditional bird houses. This means that the purple martins won't have to fight as fiercely to keep their nesting sites!

But gourds are not without their negatives. They do need treated and prepared for using as a nesting site as they will naturally mold and be dangerous for our little bird friends. Not only do they need a hole in just the right size and position on the gourd, but they need drainage and ventilation holes. They also have a suggested treatment, quoted from the Purple Martin Conservancy: "For maximum gourd longevity, follow these steps: Begin by pre-treating your gourds with a solution of 1.5 pounds of copper sulfate dissolved in 7.5 gallons of water, submerging each gourd for 15 minutes. Once treated, ensure they are thoroughly dried before applying a coat of high-quality paint to the exterior. To optimize nest coolness, we recommend using white or light pastel colors."

They are also more fragile when it comes to things like owl predation or hail hitting the nest directly.

We wanted to thank our visitors for giving us the opportunity to learn something new about how to best help some of our winged friends!

07/01/2026

Your favorite soap is back in stock!

06/25/2026

Moth Night was AMAZING! We've got a lot to go through but there's currently an estimated 75-100 species photographed!

From Naturalists with experience to visitors that asked tons of questions, it was a really fun night.

Here's just some of the things we spotted. Is there anything you recognize? 🦋🐛🪲🦗🪳

06/25/2026

We're getting ready for some moth magic on the nature trail!

06/22/2026

National Pollinator Week (Gallery Images)

It's National Pollinator Week and we're all about encouraging our native pollinator friends! Our support of our native pollinators didn't start with the project we mentioned in our previous update on National Public Garden Week. It started with planting Green-headed Cone Flower (Rudbeckia laciniata) in the tiny garden next to the front door. These flowers are very common wild flowers and sometimes even seen as an annoyance because of how they can grow tall and spread quickly....

It’s National Pollinator Week and we’re all about encouraging our native pollinator friends! Our support of our native pollinators didn’t start with the project we mentioned in ou…