National Museum of the American Indian
National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is a Smithsonian Institution museum dedicated to “advancing knowledge and understanding of the Native cultures of the Western Hemisphere—past, present, and future—through partnership with Native people and others.” NMAI has three separate facilities: the museum on the National Mall in Washington DC; the George Gustav Heye Center in New York City; and the Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Maryland. Through these facilities the organization hosts exhibitions, conducts research, and operates educational and arts programs. In 1989 the National Museum of the American Indian act Act was passed (amended in 1996), and the NMAI officially became part of the Smithsonian Institution and called for the repatriation of specific Native cultural objects. The museum’s vast collection – which contains Native artifacts, photographs, archives, and media – along with its diverse programming, serves to exemplify and highlight the rich diversity of Native people and Native culture in the contexts of both American history and contemporary American life.
