Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage

From behind, a woman holds up a flag in front of a memorial monument with a central flame. Her brown hair is braided with a purple butterfly barrette, and she wears white regalia with silver sequins and ribbons across the shoulders.

Native American Women Warriors Protect Culture, Community and the Future

For many, this coexistence of American patriotism and Indigenous pride may seem contradictory

Two children and an adult sit on three swings in a dry landscape with trees in the background.

Filmmaker Billy Luther Explains How Frybread Face and Me Was a Labor of Love

Luther’s narrative feature debut opened the 2024 Mother Tongue Film Festival at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

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How I Visit with Houma Relatives in the Smithsonian’s Archival Collections

When I visit the Smithsonian’s National Anthropological Archives, I always try to view the same item: NAA.PhotoLot.76, Houma collection.

Various cobs of multicolored corn.

How Seeds Tell Stories

In the past century, there has been a seventy-five percent decline in agricultural biodiversity. When we fail to prioritize biodiversity, we risk erasing cultural diversity as well.

Two men with long hair, one older and one younger, perform with eyes closed on stage. They each hold a painted rattle, and the older man in the foreground also holds a microphone.

A Kumeyaay Folktale Illuminates Why the Sun and Moon Shine at Different Times

The celestial beings took a lesson from two frogs in love

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