National Museum of the American Indian: The Americans

One of the reasons that I had the National Museum of the American Indian on my agenda was a new exhibit just opened called "The Americans".  It is a broad exploration of the ways in which Native American images and ideas have been co-opted by the dominant Eurocentric culture of the United States.  And then a closer look at 4 iconic moments in United States history centered on encounters with American Indians: 1) Thanksgiving, 2) Pocahontas, 3) The Trail of Tears, and 4) The Battle of Little Bighorn.  This ought to be distilled into a required course in American History in all High Schools.

 You enter into a large hall covered in images and artifacts representing the ways in which the dominant culture as used American Indian themes in particular, but not exclusively, to obtain economic advantage.  It is a sobering phalanx of witness to injustice. 

On either side of the hall are two galleries where the aforementioned particular moments are further examined.  Images from two of the four.

POCAHONTAS

This gallery focused on the way we think about the life of Pocahontas contrasting the historical record against such appropriations of her life as theatrical reenactments and the recent Disney feature length cartoon.

The TRAIL of TEARS

A major aspect of the design of this gallery was a series of diptychs aligned like the cantilevered bellows of an accordian featuring some of the major voices from the time starting with Thomas Jefferson and stopping with Andrew Jackson.