Author: Iva D. Kimmell

National Museum of the
American Indian
Directions and Hours:

Smithsonian Museums and the Mall
Thirteen Smithsonian museums are on or
near the National Mall

Hours 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily; closed December 25. Location 4th St. and Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20024 Phone: 202-633-1000 Directions The National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C., is located on the National Mall between the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum and the U.S. Capitol Building. Metro: L’Enfant Plaza Station (all lines except Red); exit Maryland Avenue/ Smithsonian Museums Bus: Lines 30, 32, 34–36—Friendship Heights/Southern Avenue

Smithsonian Institution

4th St. and Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20024 Phone: 202-633-1000
www.smithsonian.org

Collections
Our Universes: Traditional Knowledge Shapes Our World Opening September 21, 2004 NMAI on the National Mall, Washington, DC Our Universes focuses on indigenous cosmologies—worldviews and philosophies related to the creation and order of the universe—and the spiritual relationship between humankind and the natural world. Organized around the solar year, the exhibition introduces visitors to indigenous peoples from across the Western Hemisphere who continue to express the wisdom of their ancestors in celebration, language, art, spirituality, and daily life.
Our Peoples: Giving Voice to Our Histories Opening September 21, 2004 NMAI on the National Mall, Washington, DC Historically, Native people have been portrayed in textbooks in narrow or inaccurate ways. In Our Peoples, Native Americans tell their own stories—their own histories—and in this way the exhibition presents new insights into, and different perspectives on, history. The Seminole Tribe of Florida, Tapirapé (Mato Grosso, Brazil), Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma (USA), Tohono O'odham Nation (Arizona, USA), Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation (North Carolina, USA),

Native Modernism: The Art of George Morrison and Allan Houser Opening September 21, 2004 NMAI on the National Mall, Washington, DC Native Modernism explores the work of George Morrison and Allan Houser, the most prominent U.S. artists of a formative generation in Native American art. Working from the mid-1930s to the late 1990s, each rebelled against ideas of what Native art must look like to evolve a personal and original style.
George Morrison was a painter of color and light. As he traveled from his birthplace in Minnesota to New York and beyond, his evolving interest in Euro-American art resulted in an individualistic and vibrantly colorful form of abstract expressionism.
Allan Houser is best known as a sculptor, and his sphere of success and influence was in the Southwest. Blending Native subject matter with a sleek modernist aesthetic, his elegant and refined art represents Native peoples in stone and metal with dignity and compassion.
Together, these men profoundly influenced later generations of Native artists.

EVENTS
Films Shows, times, locations … NATIVE FILM: At the Movies Monthly Series
Performances Music, dance … The Tewa Dancers from the North
American Indian Music and Dance Troupe
Mahenwahdose
Special Programs Honors, celebrations …
Politically Indian: Current Issues in Native America
El Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead Tours, Talks & Lectures Reviews, guides …
Native Writers Series: Jim Northrup
Native Writers Series: Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve Workshops Crafts, demonstrations …