IndiVisible: African-Native American Lives in the Americas

Now - August 31, 2012
Photo Corridor Gallery

Twenty banners with compelling text and powerful graphics reveal the cultural integration and diffusion of African American and American Indian people, especially those of blended heritage. This exhibition also sheds light on the dynamics of race, community, culture, and creativity and addresses the human desire to belong. Organized by the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. Related publication $19.95 (paper)

Time Exposures: Picturing a History of Isleta Pueblo in the 19th Century

Now - June 10, 2012
George Gustav Heye Center, Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House

With more than 80 images and objects that detail life on the Isleta Pueblo Reservation, this exhibition reveals the rapid changes forced on the Native American people of the American Southwest after the arrival of the railroads in 1881. The railroad companies forcibly took land in the center of Isleta Pueblo in the Rio Grande Valley and the rail lines they built brought scores of tourists and other visitors. Included are images by photographers Edward Curtis, A.C. Vroman, Karl Moon, John Hillers, Charles Lummis, Carlos Vierra, Sumner Matteson, Albert Sweeney, Josef Imhof, and Ben Wittick.

The exhibition is divided into the following three sections:

• The first section details the cycle of the Isleta traditional year as it was observed in the mid-19th century.
• The second section describes the arrival of the Americans and how this disrupted the Isleta way of living.
• The third section examines the photos themselves as products of an outside culture and questions their portrayal of the Isleta people and their ways.

Organized by the people of Isleta Pueblo.

Small Spirits: Dolls from the National Museum of the American Indian

Now - July 19, 2012
George Gustav Heye Center, Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House

On view are more than 90 dolls from Native cultures throughout the Western Hemisphere, most from the 19th century through the present day, that reflect different communities and traditions of Native people.

Infinity of Nations: Art and History in the Collections of the National Museum of the American Indian

Now - October 25, 2020
George Gustav Heye Center, Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House

This new permanent exhibition of some 700 works of Native art from throughout North, Central, and South America demonstrates the breadth of the museum's renowned collection and highlight the historic importance of many of these iconic objects.

Chosen to illustrate the geographic and chronological scope of the museum's collection, Infinity of Nations opens with a display of headdresses. Signifying the sovereignty of Native nations, these works include a magnificent Kayapo krok-krok-ti, a macaw-and-heron-feather ceremonial headdress.

Focal-point objects, representing each region, include an Apsaalooke (Crow) robe illustrated with warriors' exploits; a detailed Mayan limestone bas relief depicting a ball player; an elaborately beaded Inuit tuilli, or woman's inner parka, made for the mother of a newborn baby; a Mapuche kultrung, or hand drum, depicting the cosmos; a carved and painted chief's headdress, depicting a killer whale with a raven emerging from its back, created and worn by Willie Seaweed (Kwakwaka'wakw); an anthropomorphic Shipibo joni chomo, or water vessel from Peru; a Chumash basket decorated with a Spanish-coin motif; an ancient mortar from Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, N.M.; a gourd carved with a detailed picture of the Battle of Arica by Mariano Flores Kananga (Quechua); and an early Anishinaabe man's outfit complete with headdress, leggings, shirt, sash, and jewelry. The exhibition concludes with works by Native artists including Allan Houser (Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache) and Rick Bartow (Mad River Wiyot).

• Related book: Infinity of Nations
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