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Native American Museum To Open September 21 August 23, 2004 Susan Bates |
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| After more than 15 years of
planning, raising money and construction, the National Museum of the
American Indian is scheduled to open in Washington D.C. on September 21.
More than 12,000 Indians from tribes across the hemisphere are expected to attend the opening ceremonies, which will be followed by a weeklong First Americans Festival which will feature native dances, music, food and a market. Admission will be free. The 250,000-square-foot museum, situated on the National Mall between the U.S. Capitol and the National Air and Space Museum, is the result of years of planning and money raising. Native American tribes and individuals raised over 1/3 of the $100 million dollars that Congress called for. Three tribes who own casinos donated $10 million dollars each from their profits. Four other tribes used their gambling proceeds to open the first tribally owned business in Washington D.C. - a Residence Inn that is intended to cater to Native Americans. Museum Director is W. Richard West Jr., a member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma and a peace chief of the Southern Cheyenne. The majority of the senior management and over one-fourth of the museum employees are American Indian, as were many of the architects, engineers and construction team. When questioned about what they wanted in their museum, the majority of the People envisioned a place where not only the past could come to life, but where their sacred objects could be used when needed. Ceremonies and offerings to sacred objects would be encouraged at the museum. "This is an important opportunity to show tribal people as participants in a living culture," said Wilma Mankiller, former chief of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, "not something in museums or in history books." Mr. West said he hoped the museum would achieve
"cultural understanding and reconciliation that has eluded American
history from its beginning.
What do we indigenous people want from our
country? We stand over mass graves. Our collective grief makes us numb.
We are waiting for the construction of our museum. We too could stack
the shoes of our dead and fill a city to its thirteenth floor. What did
you expect us to become? What do we indigenous people want from our
country? We are waiting for the construction of our museum. We are the
great-grandchildren of Sand Creek and Wounded Knee. We are the veterans
of the Indian wars. We are Information for this piece came from various sources including an article written by Elizabeth Olson for the New York Times, and another written by Kate Ackerman for Cox News Service. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> |
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