Material objects of a people are the most easily identifiable of ethnographic resources. Objects that tell a community's history or that provide a sense of purpose, identity or group cohesion can all be considered ethnographic resources. The totem poles of Pacific Northwestern indigenous peoples, for instance, and physical records of a community's ancestral origins are classic examples of this type of ethnographic resource; their repatriation is an important responsibility for the modern ethnographer.
A landscape can be the focal point for the communication of a people's history, spiritual traditions and culture, which are passed on from generation to generation. The Australian mesa of Uluru, or Ayers Rock, for example, is important for its spiritual significance to the Aboriginal Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara peoples, and plays a key role in the stories they tell of their own origins.
Plants and animals themselves are the ethnographic resources that are often most in need of conservation, yet the most contentious subjects for regulation. Communities that have regulated their resource use for generations often resent the meddling of outsiders, while resources shared between indigenous and immigrant communities can be even more incendiary. Salmon, the most important animal of all in the cosmology of the Skokomish people, are threatened by dams and commercial fishing. Similarly, the knowledge of the uses of medicinal plants in the treatment of disease has the potential to be useful to all people, but the extraction of those plant resources can be incredibly disruptive to the communities that make use of them.
Structures and sites are often very important to a community's sense of identity and purpose. At times, these sites are important for the story they tell about a shared history. The concentration camp at Auschwitz can be considered an ethnographic resource deserving of preservation for the tragic shared history it tells about the Jewish people. A site or structure can be considered a living resource as well; the meetinghouse, for example, is the center of community life for the Skokomish and a physical representation of the vitality of their culture.