National Museum of the American Indian

National Museum of the American Indian, museum dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of Native Americans. Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum comprises three facilities. The main museum building, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., opened in September 2004. The museum’s other facilities are in New York City and Suitland, Maryland.

Established by the Congress of the United States in 1989, the museum plans all programs, exhibitions, and facilities in close collaboration with native people from throughout the Western Hemisphere. It is a museum of living cultures that aims not just to protect Native American heritage, but to emphasize its traditions and help it thrive.

The museum has an outstanding and wide-ranging collection of materials spanning more than 10,000 years of native cultures in North America, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. There are also significant collections of historic and contemporary photographs, film, video, and audio tapes. The collection features Pacific Northwest carvings; Navajo weavings and blankets; archaeological objects from the Caribbean; Peruvian and Mexican textiles; basketry and pottery from the southwestern United States; goldwork from Colombia, Peru, and Mexico; Olmec and Maya jade from Mexico; Aztec mosaics; and painted hides and garments from the North American Plains Indians.

The museum’s main building on the National Mall is a curving, sand-colored structure designed to suggest a wind-sculpted rock formation. Inside, an atrium known as the Potomac soars 37 m (120 ft) high and serves as a central gathering and performance space. Objects from the museum’s collection are presented in rotating exhibits. As part of these exhibits, interactive computer stations allow visitors to watch video clips of interviews and oral histories and to explore detailed pictures of artifacts. The museum also features two theaters, a resource center, a café, and two stores.

Exhibitions and public programs are presented at the museum’s George Gustav Heye Center in New York City. The Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Maryland, houses the museum’s main collections, library holdings, and archives. It also serves as a center of research for scholars and tribal organizations.