The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington Tuesday.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington Tuesday.

By EMILY GILMORE

Date published: 9/16/2004

By EMILY GILMORE

THE FREE LANCE-STAR

eSTABLISHED by an act of Con- gress in Novem- ber 1989, the National Museum of the American Indian's flagship facility will finally take its place among the Smithsonian's other museums on the National Mall in Washington Tuesday.

The museum is a monument to the changing lives and cultures of the diverse peoples native to the Western Hemisphere.

It would be impossible for the museum to represent every tribe in the Americas in its exhibitions--there are 562 federally recognized tribal governments in the United States alone. But the museum's exhibits capture the diversity of the communities that fall under the comprehensive label "American Indian."

Those looking for scientific theories or anthropologists' analyses shouldn't bother showing up.

Three main exhibits--"Our Universes: Traditional Knowledge Shapes Our World," "Our Peoples: Giving Voice to Our Histories," and "Our Lives: Contemporary Life and Identities"--present American Indian culture through the Indians' point of view.

The exhibits were created after extensive consultation with 24 native tribes over a period of 2 years, said Linda St. Thomas, who works in the Smithsonian's public affairs office. The eight groups included in each exhibit will be rotated regularly.

The starry ceiling above "Our Universes" illustrates the astral bodies that native peoples use to establish annual celebrations. The exhibit examines how natives' natural surroundings govern their spirituality.

Indians chronicle their own histories in "Our Peoples," where museum visitors may learn how different cultures fought to carry on their customs.

"Our Lives" explores how American Indians reconcile traditional cultures with the modern-day influences that shape their identities in the 21st century.

In addition, "Native Modernism: The Art of George Morrison and Allan Houser" will be shown in the temporary art gallery through fall 2005. Works by other native artists, called landmark objects, will be displayed in public areas. "Window on Collections: Many Hands, Many Voices" will exhibit more than 3,500 artifacts in mini-displays arranged in seven categories.

Approximately 8,000 of the museum's 800,000 artifacts are on display, St. Thomas said. Exhibit pieces cover 10,000 years of history. Other objects are housed at the museum's Cultural Resources Center, a storage and research facility in Maryland, and at the George Gustav Heye Center in New York, a permanent branch museum of the NMAI.

Museum staff, one-third of which have American Indian heritage, also involved native communities in designing the building.

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Date published: 9/16/2004