Mexico’s population is multiethnic and multicultural, with the Indigenous population representing 8% of the total. The National Museum of Anthropology (NMA) is dedicated to the research, preservation, and dissemination of Mexico’s Indigenous cultural heritage. Its ethnographic collection comprises almost 50 000 objects from 60 different groups. These objects, which constitute the museum’s permanent collection, have been collected and studied according to anthropological criteria. They represent objects used in daily life and in ritual contexts that have a special meaning in the Indigenous world. Maintaining these collections has demonstrated the importance of permanent structures, stable and inert materials, and appropriate lighting and temperature conditions. After completing the restructuring of our exhibition rooms, we developed innovative and efficient control techniques for storage and conservation in order to maintain the collections for many generations. To assure the preservation of ethnographic heritage, we have stressed the importance of preventive conservation over restoration. This article discusses three aspects of maintenance and care of the ethnographic collections, and the way in which these daily life artifacts became collection objects.