A new museum
Finally, a place to honor America's native peoples
From its beginnings 15 years ago, the National Museum of the American Indian was unique. As its director, W. Richard West of the Southern Cheyenne tribe, puts it, "[Previous] museums have been about Native Americans, not of them. This museum has taken the voices of native people as authentic and authoritative commentators." Working with curators, the 24 tribes chosen for the museum's inaugural exhibits selected the items to be displayed and wrote the accompanying text. (Every two years, there will be some rotation among the tribes represented.) The building, too, is distinctive: A stone's throw from the U.S. Capitol, the five-story limestone edifice is meant to evoke a canyon wall hammered by wind and water. Surrounding it are samples of native environments: a small swampland, a hardwood grove, and a terraced cropland of maize, beans, and sunflowers.
While the exhibits are steeped in history, the focus here is not on the European conquest of the Americas. "The encounter was tragic for us, yes, but what we really want visitors to understand is that we survived that," says West. "We are still here, making vital contributions to contemporary American culture." -Ulrich Boser
This story appears in the October 4, 2004 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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