Visit the largest native American museum in the world-the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.

Added: 10/27/2005

The National Museum of the American Indian is the largest native American museum in the world.Its mission is collecting,preserving,studying and exhibiting the artifacts of life,languages, folklore,history and arts of native Americans.However,not only the numerous tribes of American Indians are the subject of study here,but also those of Canada,Central and South America and the Caribbean region,presenting their cultural materials dating from Paleo-Indian to the present time.

national american history museum

Indian culture is so rich and special that is rated highly all over the world.It arousers great interest in people of all nations and all generations,but especially in children who are extremely attracted by their free and bright way of living.There are lots of native American museums and centers spread all over the country in the USA but the biggest one is the National Museum of the American Indian located in three facilities:The George Gustav Heye Center in New York,

Cultural Resources Center in Maryland and NMAI on the National Mall in Washington,D.C. All of these centers have been designed according to advices of native peoples of the Western Hemisphere and Hawai'i,each of them creating the native welcoming atmosphere for visitors.

The first native American museum was opened at the turn of the twentieth century in New York by George Gustav Heye.In 1989 by an act of congress the museum obtained the name of the National Museum of American Indian and joined the fifteen other museums of the Smithsonian Institution.It became the first national native American museum with the mission of collecting,preserving,studying and exhibiting the artifacts of life,languages,folklore,history and arts of native Americans.However,not only the numerous tribes of American Indians are the subject of study in this national American history museum,but also those of Canada,

Central and South America and the Caribbean region,presenting their cultural materials dating from Paleo-Indian to the present time.

Among more than 800.000 items the Heye collection is still the cornerstone of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.,including masterpieces in wood and stone from the Northwest Coast of North America;pots and baskets from the southwestern United States;hides,clothing and feather bonnets from the North American Plains,very early types of Navajo weavings,ceramics from Costa Rica,textiles and gold works from Ands and Peru,Olmec and Maya carved jade and many other Indian treasures.Various domestic utensils and funerary,religious and ceremonial objects,demonstrating the Indian style of life are exhibited in the great range also.

The number of permanent and temporary exhibitions on the array of native themes makes

visiting of the museum always entertaining and cognitive.Ongoing exhibitions in NMAI on the

National Mall include "Our Universe:Traditional Knowledge Shapes Our World"representing

cosmologies-worldviews and philosophies of eight Indian communities such as Anishinaabe

(Canada),Quechua(Peru),Q'eq'chi' Maya(Guatemala),Mapuche(Chile);Indians of the Pueblo of

Santa Clara,Lakota,Hupa and Yup'ik(USA);"Our Lives:Contemporary Life and Identities"

revealing how the members of several native communities in USA and Canada dwell in the

urban societies of the 21^st century;"Native Modernism:The Art of George Morrison and Allan

Houser",exhibiting the contemporary native artists' abstract paintings and sculptures,and more.

The George Gustav Heye Center displays "New Tribe:New York",showing the works of

NewYork-based Native artist Alan Michelson and "First American Art:The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection of American Indian Art".Both exhibitions will be on until April 9,2006.

Also,in this native American museum you can watch photos and films and listen to audio cassets or buy Indian souvenirs as well.

List this museum in your weekend plans,you will be enriched with the Great Native American Heritage and your children will not only become better aware of the history and culture of the country but also thankful to you for the new themes for their games.

To learn more about the museum or visit online exhibitions go to:

http://www.nmai.si.edu

The George Gustav Heye Center of NMAI in New York

Alexander Hamilton

U.S.Custom House

One Bowling Green

New York,NY 10004

Phone:212-514-3700

Hours:

10a.m. to 5p.m. daily;

Thursdays until 8p.m.

Closed on December 25.