"Unbound: Narrative Art of the Plains"
“Unbound: Narrative Art of the Plains” celebrates the full expression of narrative art among Native nations of the Great Plains. The exhibition juxtaposes historical hides, muslins, and ledger books with more than 50 contemporary works commissioned by the museum. Illustrating everything from war deeds and ceremonial events to family life, Native identity, and pop culture, the artworks are as diverse as the individuals who created them.
Early narrative warrior-artists recorded their battle exploits on buffalo-hide shirts and robes. During the 19th century, as trade broadened, they painted more elaborate scenes on large canvas tipi liners and used muslin cloth as well as hides for winter counts, some documenting more than 100 years of history. When ledger books became available, artists filled their pages with narrative drawings. Native artists began reviving “ledger art” in the 1970s, creating a vibrant form that takes on contemporary topics, uses a variety of media, and is widely collected.
This exhibition is on view at our Washington, DC museum through January 20, 2026. Plan your visit. https://s.si.edu/49CNkFX
#IndigenousArtists #NarrativeArt #LedgerArt
"I create art as a way to connect with my ancestors, as a way to restore a language between us that was driven out of my family," says artist, poet, and musician Storme Webber about her motivation to create art.
One of six contemporary Black and Indigenous women artists featured in our online exhibition “Ancestors Know Who We Are,” Storme Webber is a two-spirit poet and interdisciplinary artist descended from Black and Alaskan Sugpiaq (Alutiiq) women.
Through artistic expression and reflection, "Ancestors Know Who We Are" explores contemporary realities in the interwoven histories of Black and Indigenous peoples. Learn more on our website. https://americanindian.si.edu/ancestors-know/
#SmithsonianBHM #AfroIndigenous #BlackHistoryMonth
What’s the Story with National Stories?
How do national stories like the one we share about "that meal at Plymouth a long, long time ago" shape our understanding of history and the present? Learning stories that include multiple sources provide fuller, richer pictures of shared history so that we can be better listeners and make better choices in the present and future.
This animated clip comes from a longer video about the concept of national stories included in "The “First Thanksgiving”: How Can We Tell a Better Story?" a new resource from our education initiative Native Knowledge 360° (NK360°). Based on an inquiry design model, this resource helps teachers and students dispel misconceptions about the “First Thanksgiving” by examining the events through multiple perspectives, including those of the Wampanoag Nation, who have been largely excluded from this national story.
If you're an educator, you can register now for a FREE four-part series of professional development webinars coming up in early 2025. Find the full video, learn more, and register on NK360°. https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/resources/First-Thanksgiving-How-Can-We-Tell-a-Better-Story
__
Video produced by Baker and Hill for the National Museum of the American Indian and featured in the inquiry resource, The “First Thanksgiving”: How Can We Tell a Better Story?"
#Thanksgiving #NationalStories #NK360 #Education
COMING SOON: In just one week, you can stream some of the year's best in Indigenous film from the comfort of home, all for FREE! Our Native Cinema Showcase Online kicks off next Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, 12:01 AM ET through Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, 11:59 PM ET. Don't forget to save the dates and share with friends!
The museum's Native Cinema Showcase is an annual celebration of the best in Native film. In honor of the museum’s twentieth anniversary in Washington, DC, the theme of looking back and moving forward is highlighted in films that explore the challenges still confronting Indigenous peoples on disparate fronts, including sports, missing and murdered Indigenous women, intergenerational trauma, and rematriation of the land with buffalo.
Learn more about the 33 films (25 shorts, eight features) representing 25 Native nations in eight countries: U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Finland films included in the showcase on our site: https://americanindian.si.edu/native-cinema-showcase-2024/
#NativeCinemaShowcase #IndigenousFilm #SmithsonianNAHM
"Takes Care of Them" by Dyani White Hawk (Sicangu Lakota)
"Through acts of creation, nurturing, leadership, love, and protection carried out in infinite forms, our grandmothers, aunties, sisters, cousins, nieces, and friends collectively care for our communities. As a suite, these works speak to the importance of kinship roles and tribal structures that emphasize the necessity of extended family, tribal and communal ties as meaningful and significant relationships necessary for the rearing of healthy and happy individuals and communities."—Dyani White Hawk (Sičáŋǧu Lakota)
Over the course of a year, Dyani White Hawk collaborated with Master Printer Cole Rogers and the staff at Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis, Minnesota to create “Takes Care of Them.” Many layers of ink were applied to suggest the yokes of dentalium shells as well as the textures of felted wool cloth, satin ribbons, cowrie shells and other materials traditionally used to make these Plains style women’s dresses. Metallic foil accents were then individually added by hand.
Each print is individually named for a quality that embodies the ways women care for our families and communities: “Wówahokuŋkiya | Lead,” “Wókaǧe | Create,” “Nakíčižiŋ | Protect” and “Wačháŋtognaka | Nurture.” The suite also reflects the practice of requesting four veterans to stand guard at the cardinal directions during certain ceremonies. White Hawk says, “This list is simply a starting point, an acknowledgement and gesture of gratitude for the many women in my life that have helped Create, Nurture, Protect, and Lead in ways that have taught me what it means to be a good relative.” The suite of "Takes Care of Them" prints, one of the few full sets in a museum collection, is currently on view on Level 3 at our Washington, DC location. Learn more: https://s.si.edu/3oJMdD3
This Veterans Day, and every day, we honor the service and sacrifice of Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Alaska Natives that have served in every branch
“I really thought about it through that Indigenous lens and through that culinary lens of just trying to understand how are we surviving for, you know, countless generations?”—Sean Sherman (Oglala Lakota), founder and CEO of the Sioux Chef, co-founder of North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS), and 2023 recipient of the Julia Child Award.
Sherman joined us to discuss the revival of Indigenous food cultures during the 2024 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. During his talk, Sherman shared with visitors about his path to becoming a chef and creating his nonprofit through the lens of Indigenous food history and knowledge.
This #WorldFoodDay, we invite you to learn more and be inspired by Sherman’s perspective on “The Revitalization and Evolution of Indigenous Foods throughout North America”. https://s.si.edu/402KTeU
#IndigenousFoods #IndigenousFoodSovereignty #2024Folklife
"We not only are part of its history, but part of its evolution of where it's going."—Hawhenawdies-Neal Powless (Onondaga Nation, Eel Clan)
"Our foods are something that we connect with, that tie us to our culture, that tie us to our ancestors."—Nico Albert Williams (ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ Cherokee Nation)
"Email me, call me, text me, I'll show up."—enthusiastic festival go-er Aaron Davis
In a year of museum milestones, our memories of the 2024 Smithsonian Folklife Festival program “Indigenous Voices of the Americas” are so special to us. During the festival, hundreds of Indigenous people from communities across the Western Hemisphere gathered to honor contemporary and traditional creative expressions, celebrations, and community connections that feed new possibilities. You joined us in our halls, on the National Mall, and online to listen to those voices and recognize the vital significance of the message each shared in their own way—Indigenous people are still here.
Today and every day at the National Museum of the American Indian, we illuminate Indigenous peoples. We illuminate Indigenous histories, Indigenous foods, Indigenous arts, Indigenous dreams, and Indigenous futures. We celebrate and exchange this knowledge all year and invite you to join us anywhere, anytime in that endeavor. Whether you find us online, on the road, or in DC and New York, thank you for showing up.
#IndigenousPeoplesDay #2024Folklife
"The legacy of harm and the breakup of Indian families has touched every single American Indian person in the United States," said Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Bryan Newland (Ojibwe) in a keynote address for educators during our 2023 Indigenous Peoples’ Day Teach-In. Sec. Newland highlights the connection between boarding school research conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the efforts to support language and cultural revitalization in Indian Country today. Watch the complete keynote on our YouTube channel: https://s.si.edu/3XO8tZX
September 30 marks the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools in the US, and is recognized in Canada as the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. This day honors the children who never returned home, the survivors who did, and the families and communities that face intergenerational trauma caused by these policies of forced assimilation.
Indian boarding schools were founded to eliminate traditional American Indian ways of life and replace them with mainstream American culture. The first boarding schools were set up starting in the mid-nineteenth century either by the government or Christian missionaries. Initially, the government forced many Indian families to send their children to boarding schools. Later, Indian families chose to send their children to boarding schools because there were no other schools available.
For more, read the personal account of boarding school survivor Barbara Bad Elk (Hehacha Sicha of the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation) in our magazine for her ideas on what more can be done to encourage healing. https://s.si.edu/4dvm9Pk
"There is no place in this hemisphere where Indian people have not walked. That's part of the reason I feel so strongly about our having a museum on the National Mall....Native America is not a stagnant, neatly compartmentalized group of cultures," wrote artist Ramona Sakiestewa (Hopi) in "Spirit of a Native Place: Building the National Museum of the American Indian."
On this day twenty years ago, our doors opened in Washington, DC. Every day since has been dedicated to sharing the stories, knowledge, and voices of Indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere in the nation's capital. This summer, we celebrated a year of significant milestones for the museum and took the opportunity to help visitors understand just what Ramona meant when she wrote those words.
Along with Smithsonian Folklife, we welcomed hundreds of Indigenous artists, makers, chefs, athletes, and storytellers for the 2024 program "Indigenous Voices of the Americas" (s.si.edu/IVA). Thousands of visitors from around the world had the opportunity to understand the beauty, strength, and resilience of Native peoples through stories, songs, dance, arts, sports, food, and more.
For the next twenty years and beyond, our museum will continue to seek equity and social justice for the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere through education, inspiration, and empowerment. You are always welcome in this Native place, and we hope to see you again soon.
#OnThisDay #IndigenousVoicesOfTheAmericas
"When I'm home...I can feel the place of my roots. This is the land where my Tótsohnii family has lived for many generations. My great-great-great grandmother...lived here....My family has lived here ever since."—DY Begay (Diné [Navajo], b. 1953)
Memories are embedded in the land. For Diné artist DY Begay, the land—her land in Tsélaní, the Navajo Reservation in Arizona—is everything. The red mesas, stone spires, and expansive horizons of her homeland and the memories of family that reside therein provide the meaning and inspiration from which she weaves her innovative wool tapestries.
While Tsélaní has been Begay's muse, it is her innate desire to experiment that makes her tapestries unique. Her medium, weaving, is deeply traditional to Diné culture and one at which Diné women have excelled for generations. As is customary, Begay learned to weave from her female relatives. Yet her curiosity and creative drive moved her to explore the expressive potential of her art form. The resulting tapestries are a contemporary expression of a Diné way of being from a master of color and design.
“Sublime Light: Tapestry Art of DY Begay” represents three decades of the artist's work and is her first comprehensive retrospective. The exhibition is now on view through July 13, 2025 at our Washington, DC museum. Join us tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 21 for a book signing and panel conversation (also online) with the artist. https://s.si.edu/47BFBst
Major support provided by Henry Luce Foundation. Generous support provided by Ameriprise Financial. Additional support provided by The Coby Foundation, Ltd. and Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund. Federal support provided by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum.
NCS 2024 - Native Cinema Trailblazers Panel
About last night…we kicked off Native Cinema Showcase 2024 in Santa Fe, NM with a whole lot of laughs. Our Native Cinema Trailblazers panel with Graham Greene (Oneida), Tantoo Cardinal (Cree/Métis/Nakota), and Wes Studi (Cherokee), moderated by Sierra Teller Ornelas (Navajo) was a hit with our full house at the New Mexico History Museum. These are just a few scenes from the evening with these familiar faces from the silver screen. Thank you to our panelists and moderator and everyone joining us throughout the weekend to celebrate the year’s best in Indigenous filmmaking. 🎬
Learn more on our website: https://s.si.edu/4cqAIDm
#NativeCinemaShowcase #IndigenousFilm
Virgil Ortiz, “Pueblo Revolt 2180,” 2018-2019, Smithsonian American Art Museum
“I won’t ever feel successful until I leave this realm and the pottery tradition stays alive and the world knows about the Pueblo Revolt.”—Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti Pueblo)
Artist and storyteller Virgil Ortiz’s creations carry the history, traditions, and resilience of his Cochiti Pueblo people. Like generations before him, Ortiz gathers local clay, hand builds his vessels, and makes paint from wild spinach leaves. Alongside these artmaking methods, he develops futuristic worlds in which traditional knowledge guides future generations.
This jar, titled “Pueblo Revolt 2180,” references the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 which is recognized as the most successful revolt by Indigenous people against colonial powers in North America. The uprising by a united Pueblo front against Spanish oppression in present-day New Mexico was led by religious leader Po’pay (Tewa) to reclaim spiritual and cultural autonomy. The revolution, which began on August 10, expelled the Spanish from the region for 12 years and instilled in the Pueblo people a fierce commitment to cultural independence and preservation that continues today.
“Pueblo Revolt 2180” imagines the Pueblo-Spanish conflict reigniting in the year 2180, when Pueblo lands and people are again under attack. The warrior Tahu, with her bow and quiver of arrows, leads the army. She is accompanied by the Gliders who run messages across pueblos, and Translator, communicating events across time as they unfold. “I developed 19 groups of characters that represent the 19 Pueblos that are still left in New Mexico today. Characters like the Watchmen would represent one Pueblo—the Blind Archers, the Translator Army, the Venutian Soldiers, all of these different characters are assigned to the 19 Pueblos,” says Ortiz.
In telling this story, Ortiz spotlights an under-recognized chapter in history while imagining a future in which the people of Cochiti Pueblo rise again to successfully defend their land, people, culture, an
Washington, DC
