National Museum of the American Indian

Thanksgiving, as the United States’ origin story, leaves out painful truths about the nation’s history. Giving thanks, however, has always been part of Native Americans’ everyday lives. Image: Earnest L. Spybuck (Absentee Shawnee, 1883–1949).

Do American Indians Celebrate Thanksgiving?

How do Native Americans make peace with a national holiday that romanticizes the 1621 encounter between their ancestors and English settlers, and erases the deadly conflicts that followed?

Alaska Magazine calls the Inuit drum-dance group Pamyua

From new music and dance fusions to traditional festivals, the museum's Native American Heritage Month is something special

Everything people need to know to join the National Museum of the American Indian in celebrating the diversity and contributions of Native Americans and Alaska Natives during Native American Heritage Month this November. For friends unable to visit Washington, D.C., or New York, the museum is webcasting many of these public programs live, then archiving them online.

Ian Kuali'i with some of his cut-paper art, June 2019. (Courtesy of the artist)

Time-lapse video of artist Ian Kuali'i working on a paper-cut portrait

A 20-second time-lapse video captures a couple of hours of work on a cut-paper piece by artist Ian Kuali’i (Native Hawaiian and Mescalero Apache). Here, Kuali’i is cutting along the sketched the outline of a portrait, though he also cuts freehand. (We asked he ever uses a projected image as a cutting guide. He doesn’t and offers the advice, “Simplify!”) Kuali'i, the 2019 Ronald and Susan Dubin Native Artist Fellow at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, is demonstrating his art and talking with visitors tomorrow, October 19, 2019, at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City.

Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee) at the opening of the exhibition

Fulfilling Her Promise: Museums Honor Native Rights Advocate Suzan Harjo

Suzan Shown Harjo has helped shape current ideas about cultural representation and respect. In Congress and the courts, she has advocated for reforms from the restoration of Native American religious freedoms to the protection of sacred lands. And she has held the Smithsonian and other museums to higher standards in working with Native people and their cultural patrimony. Friday, September 20, we honor her life and work at a symposium on the National Mall in Washington and live online.

Command Sergeant Major Julia Kelly (U.S. Army retired), one of 80 Native American delegates to the 75th anniversary observance of D-Day, stands on Omaha Beach. Kelly holds an eagle feather staff, an American Indian symbol of respect, honor, and patriotism. (Courtesy of Julia Kelly)

On the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, Native Americans Remember Veterans’ Service and Sacrifices

This year, 80 Native delegates have been asked to take part in the official commemoration of D-Day. Their responsibilities include offering ceremonies at American cemeteries and memorials in Normandy to honor the men and women who served during World War II—part a growing movement to acknowledge the historic service of Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Winyan (Woman) Power: New Art by Kevin and Valerie Pourier Honors Women Who Stand Up for the Rights and Welfare of Others

"Winyan Wánakikśin" (Women Defenders of Others), a buffalo horn belt created by Lakota artists Kevin and Valerie Pourier, honors the strength and perseverance of women activists. Inspired by the Native women who took part in the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, the art work represents an important event in Native American, American, and environmental history, and speaks across artistic, cultural, and national boundaries.

A design drawing shows the standing metal ring of the National Native American Veterans Memorial as it will be seen from the southeast corner of the National Mall, between the Capitol Building and the National Museum of the American Indian. (Design by Harvey Pratt/Butzer Architects and Urbanism, illustration by Skyline Ink, courtesy of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian)

New Drawings Show the National Native American Veterans Memorial Taking Its Place on the National Mall

The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts has unanimously accepted the most recent phase of design work for the National Native American Veterans Memorial. The commission praised the concept as “beautiful in its physical design and symbolism,” singling out the memorial’s layered meanings and the contemplative character of its setting within the museum's native landscape.

Members of the Cherokee Youth National Choir taking part in the installation of the Treaty of New Echota at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. (Paul Morigi/AP Images for the Smithsonian)

The Treaty That Forced the Cherokee People from Their Homelands Goes on View

Negotiated in 1835 by a small group of Cherokee citizens without legal standing, challenged by the majority of the Cherokee nation and their elected government, the Treaty of New Echota was used by the United States to justify the removal of the Cherokee people along the Trail of Tears. Representatives of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes came together to see the treaty go on exhibit on the National Mall.

Norma Baker–Flying Horse (third from left) with models wearing her Red Berry Woman designs. Paris Fashion Week, March 2019. (Ulla Couture Photography)

"A Lot of Our Traditional Clothing, We Had to Fight to Keep"—Fashion Designer Norma Baker–Flying Horse

Designer Norma Baker–Flying Horse (enrolled citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation) grew up loving toy high heels and secondhand accessories. "I was the most stylish six-year-old on the cattle ranch," she says. This year, Paris Fashion Week featured her work. "To be a Native American designer showing for the Fashion Week Studio was amazing. I felt like a childhood dream had come true." Happy Women's History Month!

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