Among the more than 55,000 objects in the Ozette collection, certain categories have attracted particular attention because of what they reveal about specific aspects of Makah life and cultural tradition.

The carved wooden figurines and representational objects are perhaps the most immediately striking to contemporary viewers, because they document the artistic sensibility of the pre-contact community in a direct and tangible way.

Small figures carved from wood, representing both human and animal forms, were found in what appear to be household contexts.

These objects suggest that carved figures were part of everyday domestic life, not just formal ceremonial settings.

The decorated boxes have attracted particular attention from scholars of Northwest Coast art, because they provide pre-contact examples of the formline design tradition in three-dimensional applied form.