September 21, 2007 - Indefinitely
Outside, near Maryland Ave. entrance
On view outside the museum is a family of five sculptures hand-built by artist Nora Naranjo-Morse (Santa Clara Pueblo, Espanola, N.M.), winner of the museum's outdoor sculpture design competition. Based on aboriginal architecture and made of organic, nontoxic materials -- dirt, straw, sand, clay, wood, and moss -- the tipi-like forms are from 6 to 15 feet tall and 3 to 4 inches deep. Each will take on a life of its own as the elements of nature slowly erode the organic materials over time, thus the name Always Becoming.
Note: Nora Naranjo-Morse is the first Native American woman to create an outdoor sculpture in Washington, D.C.
March 24, 2007 - August 3, 2008
3rd level, W. Richard West Jr. Contemporary Arts Gallery
Dresses are more than simple articles of clothing for Native women -- they are aesthetic expressions of culture and identity. Embodying messages about the life of the wearer, dresses offer Native women the opportunity to blend artistic tradition and bold innovation while preparing themselves, their families, and their communities to partake in the "dance of life."
Bringing together 55 dresses and more than 200 items from the Plains, Plateau, and Great Basin regions of the United States and Canada, this exhibition highlights Native women's identity through traditional dress and its contemporary evolution. It also examines the individual, communal, and cultural identity of Native women, and explores how their highly developed artistic skills benefitted not only their families but also the entire community.
Note: No photograph or video permitted in the Ghost Dance section of this exhibition.
November 13, 2006 - Permanent
2nd level
Through photographs, maps, ceremonial and everyday objects, and interactives, this panel display provides both an overview of the history and events affecting the Native peoples -- Nanticoke, Powhatan, and Piscataway tribes -- of the Chesapeake Bay region (what is now Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.) and information on their continued presence today.
September 21, 2004 - Permanent
4th St. & Independence Ave., SW
The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian's third facility opened on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., between the National Air and Space Museum and the U.S. Capitol. This museum serves as the centerpiece venue for Native American performances and educational programs, as well as a primary exhibition space for Native American arts, history, and material cultures. Appropriately positioned in the heart of the nation's capital, Native Americans have led the way in the creation of this landmark museum that will enable the world to explore the past, present, and future through the eyes of Native peoples.
September 21, 2004 - Permanent
3rd level
This exhibition examines the identities of Native peoples in the 21st century, and how those identities, both individual and communal, are the results of deliberate, often difficult choices made in challenging circumstances. This exhibition explores the forces in modern Native life that Native peoples are profoundly influenced by -- their families and communities, the language they speak, the places they live and identify with, and their own self determination. Eight communities contributed their stories to this telling: the Campo Band of Kumeyaay Indians (Southern California), urban Indian community of Chicago (Illinois), Yakama Nation (Washington State),Igloolik (Nunavut, Canada), Kahnawake Mohawk (Quebec, Canada), Saint-Laurent Metis (Manitoba, Canada), Kalinago (Dominica), and Pamunkey (Virginia).
September 21, 2004 - Permanent
4th level
This exhibition discusses events that shaped the lives and outlook of Native peoples from 1491 to the present. The first part of the exhibition reveals the forces that affected the lives of Native peoples; it shows how Native peoples have struggled to maintain traditions in the face of adversity, and explains why so little of this history is familiar. The second area consists of eight small galleries that recount the histories of individual tribes: Blackfeet (Montana), Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico), Tapirape (Brazil), Kiowa (Oklahoma), Tohono O'odham (Arizona), Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation (North Carolina), Nahua (Mexico), Ka'apor (Brazil), and Wixarikari-sometimes known as Huichol-(Mexico).
The exhibition also includes a "wall of gold" featuring over 400 gold figurines, dating back to 1490, along with European swords, coins, and crosses made from melted gold.
September 21, 2004 - Permanent
4th level
Focusing on Native cosmology and organized around one solar year, this exhibition explores the annual ceremonies of Native peoples as a window on their ancestral teachings. Under a "night sky" of fiber-optic stars and constellations, discover how celestial bodies shape the daily lives -- and establish the calendars of ceremonies and celebrations -- of Native peoples today. Featured communities: Mapuche (Chile), Lakota (South Dakota), Quechua (Peru), Yup'ik (Alaska), Q'eq'chi, Maya (Guatemala), Santa Clara Pueblo (New Mexico), Anishinaabe (Hollow Water, Manitoba, Canada), and Hupa (California). The exhibition also highlights the Denver (Colorado) March Powwow, the North American Indigenous Games, and the Day of the Dead -- seasonal celebrations that bring Native peoples together.
September 21, 2004 - Permanent Displays
3rd and 4th levels
These permanent displays feature more than 3,500 items from the museum's collection that reveal the remarkable breadth and diversity of Native American objects. Located on the third and fourth levels of the museum and housed in drawers and glass-fronted cases, objects are arranged by categories, including beadwork, peace medals, arrowheads and other projectile points, containers, dolls, and animal objects.
- Indefinitely
1st Level, Potomac Rotunda
Sacred Rain Arrow: Allan Houser's bronze sculpture Sacred Rain Arrow (1988, 94" x 58") relates the legend of a young Apache warrior selected in times of drought to shoot a sacred arrow to the heavens carrying his people's prayer for rain to the Spirit World.
The American Indian Museum stores offer beautiful items handmade by Native artisans including silver, turquoise jewelry, pottery, books and music.
The American Indian's Mitsitam Native Foods Café offers Native-inspired meals and snacks that draw on the culinary traditions of the Americas.
