The article drescribes the acquisition and formation of non-European collections in the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. It deals in greater detail with the Baraga Collection of objects from the everyday life of the Ottawa and Ojibwa Native Americans. The author advances the thesis that Frederic Baraga was in the first place a missionary, but that his scientific and reasearch work in the field of ethnology goes far beyond a religious context. The nature of the collection proves this beyond any doubt.