Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian

12/10/2026

“The way that Lakota people show their love is through adornment. šá -ič’iyA is the word for it, and it is the highest expression of love. And so, whoever wore this dress was deeply loved, highly honored, and they were absolutely the showstopper,” says artist Jodi Archambault (Oglala and Hunkpapa Lakota) about this hide dress made by a skilled Lakota artist more than a century ago.

The elaborate yoke of this dress is decorated with American flags, five-pointed stars, and a shield. Dresses like this one were created for special events like powwows or rodeos. This one was likely created for a Fourth of July celebration.

During the late 1800s, Lakota women found new ways to express cultural traditions, such as beadwork, as they adapted to reservation life. Archambault calls the color of the dress “classic Sioux blue,” and notes that the beads vary in shade due to the scarcity of materials available at the time.

Visitors to the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., can see this dress on view in "Making a Statement." The installation highlights how Native American clothing carries powerful stories and messages of resilience, and how Native women combine traditional design elements with modern military symbolism to demonstrate cultural pride and honor military service.


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Lakota dress, 1900–1910 (front). North Dakota or South Dakota. Possibly cowhide, glass beads, sinew. 2/5800 Lakota belt, ca. 1900. South Dakota. Commercial leather and buckle, German silver conchos.1/3390 National Museum of the American Indian.

07/10/2026

The Mapuche people have long been highly skilled weavers who create items of extraordinary quality such as ponchos, belts, women’s dresses, shawls, blankets, and headdresses like this one in our collection. This headdress is worn during the Choyke Purun, or Ostrich Dance, during the Ngillatun (Pleading Ceremony) and Machitun (Healing Ceremony). Young men selected by Machi (religious leaders) to dance symbolize the Mapuche people’s close association with nature and the spirit world. The dancers help the Machi plead for benevolence from the Mapuche’s ancestors and deities. Visitors can see this headdress on view at our New York City museum in the exhibition "Infinity of Nations" (also online). https://s.si.edu/4mBqtlb

Researchers have found evidence of Mapuche fabrics dated to between AD 1300–1350. Traditional knowledge of textile patterns and weaving is transmitted through the maternal line, and highly skilled women are honored by the community. Once the Spanish arrived in what is now known as Chile in 1541, the indigenous Mapuche community entered into trade relationships that led to their cultivation of wheat and sheep. Knowledge of textile patterns and weaving techniques continue to be passed down from mothers to daughters in the community.

Today, the Mapuche comprise about 9% of Chile's population, and 80% of the country's Indigenous population. Mapuche people also reside in neighboring Argentina. As young Mapuche people have moved into urban areas, the melding of languages and traditions has led to creative ways to honor the past and look to the future. Mapuche musicians such as Waikil (Jaime Cuyanao Venegas) and Ketrafe honor their Mapuche culture and experiences, and preserve the Mapuzungun language.

In 2024, we invited Waikil and Ketrafe to perform during the Smithsonian Folklife Festival program "Indigenous Voices of the Americas" honoring the twentieth anniversary of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, and celebrating Indigenous creative expression across the Western Hemisphere. Watch highlights of a performance on our YouTube channel. https://s.si.edu/4rODFqy

During Hispanic Heritage Month, we highlight the Indigenous history, peoples, and communities of the Spanish-speaking Americas.
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Mapuche head ornament, ca. 1975. Trumpulo Chico, Chile. Wool, ostrich feathers.
25/9039

02/10/2026

It's pawpaw (Asimina triloba) season! Though they might be unfamiliar to many, pawpaws have a long history as the largest edible fruit native to North America. Due to its wide range, from southern Canada to northern Florida and to the Midwest, the fruit found its way into the diets of a number of American Indian communities, such as the Lenape, Osage, and Shawnee. For the Shawnee, "ha’siminikiisfwa" or pawpaw moon, is the month of September.

The pawpaw was a popular treat for centuries and today as interest in Indigenous foodways grows, the fruit is beginning to regain popularity, from pawpaw festivals to farmer's markets. The taste of the pawpaw fruit can be described as a blend of banana and mango with a custard-like consistency. Its texture and flavor lends itself well to ice cream, compotes, and even w**e. The fruit starts off green and hard but softens and turns yellow or brown as it ripens. Swipe to see!

Despite its edibility, pawpaws are usually not cultivated commercially due to its short shelf life and because it is easily bruised. Although you may not see them at your local grocery store, pawpaws can be a delicious treat if you come upon them during the months of August through October.

Pawpaw trees can be spotted growing in the landscape of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. The caterpillars of Zebra swallowtail butterflies are dependent on pawpaws, so you might see them too if you come upon the trees.

01/10/2026

“The stairstep border design was inspired by what is usually called the Navajo wedding basket, but is actually a multipurpose ceremonial basket. It is shaped like a shallow bowl with a distinctive tan, brown, and rust stairstep designs circling the center....I have chosen to create the stairstep border pattern using Seminole patchwork, or strip piecing. My father was Oklahoma Seminole and both Oklahoma and Florida bands of Seminoles create Seminole patchwork to be used in their colorful clothing, quilts, and other textile creations....

Every element of the basket design holds cultural significance for the Navajo people. The center star points symbolize the sacred mountains that define the Navajo land boundaries. The dark inner points represent the clouds and rain, which are so important in the arid Southwest. The break or opening is supposed to always face east as the basket hangs on a wall or is propped up on a shelf. Traditional Navajos rise before dawn to pray to the rising sun for spiritual guidance and blessings while offering a gift of corn pollen. The red/rust circle symbolizes the rainbow, which represents joy and happiness. The outer black points represent the holy and spiritual entities. The outer white area is where the sun, moon, and stars travel.

The designs in the basket represent a pathway to a good life. One prayer phrase asks, “may I walk in beauty” or “help me walk in beauty”.... I incorporated the blue and yellow spacers in the side borders to tie the border into the colors of the blocks but, they also break up the regimented path because life’s path isn’t always easy or without mistakes.”—Margaret Wood (Diné/Seminole)

Raised on the Navajo Nation Reservation in Arizona, Wood learned to sew from her mother. She has been an educator, fashion designer, and published author. Today, her creative emphasis is quilting, and her work can be found in museums around the country.

The border pattern of our Quilt Along featuring Wood’s design is now available. https://s.si.edu/3VqrG6z
Finishing instructions to complete your commemorative wall hanging are also now available for download. https://s.si.edu/4dKB4bq
Join our Facebook event to share your work in progress and tips and tricks with your fellow quilters. https://s.si.edu/4j06kqr
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Margaret Wood (Diné/Seminole), Quilt Border on the theme of Always Becoming. National Museum of the American Indian, Quilt Along, 2026.

01/10/2026

"We remember your sacrifices. You have not been forgotten.”—Shan Goshorn, “Memorial Song”

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.

These baskets were woven by Eastern Band of Cherokee artist Shan Goshorn during the last two years of her life. In 2013, she was awarded a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, enabling her to study Cherokee baskets and archival materials in the museum’s collection, other Smithsonian collections like the National Anthropological Archives, and the National Archives.

She was deeply moved by photographs of Native children at boarding schools operated by the U.S. government and churches. Several of Goshorn’s own relatives had attended Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the first off-reservation boarding school for Native children. Goshorn continued her research following her fellowship, through more photographs, student rosters, and other archival documentation.

“Goshorn selected seven pairs of photographs taken of Native children just after their arrival at Carlisle and again a few months later. Goshorn reproduced the photographs on archival watercolor paper and sent or carried them to Native communities, asking people to inscribe them with personal messages to the children. The photographs were then cut into splints, or strips, with which to weave the baskets. On other splints and the baskets’ rims are written words from Pratt’s infamous 1892 speech, during which he argued for killing the Indian in a child in order to “save the man in him.” Inside each basket, printed on a deep red background and held protectively within, are the names of some of the 8,000 children who attended the school before it closed its doors on September 1, 1918,” writes contemporary art curator Rebecca Head Trautmann in our American Indian Magazine.
Keep reading to learn more and get a closer look at the baskets.
https://www.americanindianmagazine.org/story/filling-silence
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Shan Goshorn (Eastern Band of Cherokee, 1957-2018), "Resisting the Mission; Filling the Silence", 2017. Tulsa, Oklahoma. Seven sets of two baskets, fourteen total. Arches watercolor paper, archival inks, acrylic paint, imitation sinew. Approx. 21” x 6.75” x 6.75” (each basket). Museum purchase from the artist's studio, 2019. 27/0219

30/09/2026

The chonkiest hųųc of the year is about to be crowned! 🐻

“Hųųc” is the Hoocąk (Ho-Chunk) word for bear. Bears are a recurring subject in Hoocąk artist Truman Lowe’s sculptures and drawings. Lowe’s mother, Mabel Davis Lowe, was a member of the tribe’s Bear Clan. Mabel’s Hoocąk name, Sauninga, is also the title of this pastel drawing, and one of several works Lowe made to honor her.

In Hoocąk (Ho-Chunk) culture, Elders say that long ago, a bear was walking along a high knoll by the Black River in Wisconsin. As it passed in front of the sun, the brilliant glow of the bear's coat so impressed the Namegiver that he named it "Sauninga," which is the Hoocąk word for "The Shining One."

In addition to drawings of bears, Lowe also made large sculptures. He liked the idea of making bearskin “rugs” of wood that might be folded or rolled. His abstracted bear sculptures call to mind effigy mounds found throughout the Upper Mississippi River Basin. Visitors can encounter two of Lowe’s wooden bear sculptures, along with nearly 50 other works currently on view at our Washington, DC museum.

The retrospective exhibition “Water’s Edge: The Art of Truman Lowe" honors nearly five decades of Truman Lowe’s innovative artistic career as well as the Hoocąk creative practices, stories, and cultural knowledge that infuse his work. Plan your visit. https://s.si.edu/4pNOxUl

Which chonky hųųc did you vote for this Fat Bear Week? Bear 910 or Bear 89?
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Truman Lowe (Hoocąk, 1944–2019), "Sauninga," 1992. Pastel on paper, 30 x 22 1/4 in. National Museum of the American Indian 27/628

25/09/2026

"This orange ceramic jar with its castellated base and modeled cover exemplifies the skill attained by Mayan potters during the Classic Period, ca. AD 250 to 900. The vessel’s shape, design, color, and decoration date its production to the first part of this period, when Kaminaljuyú, the largest city of the ancient Maya in the highlands of Guatemala, experienced a cultural transition. There is evidence that, during this time, the wider Mayan region established closer ties with Central Mexico. This jar and others like it are thought to be examples of such interaction, especially with the city of Teotihuacán.

The history of Kaminaljuyú, the largest city of the ancient Maya in the highlands of Guatemala, dates back to 2000 BC. The city was abandoned around AD 900. For nearly 3,000 years, the Maya leveraged the abundance of resources that were found nearby, especially such valuable stones as jade and obsidian. The figure decorating the lid wears the headdress of an ahaw, or noble, and a necklace and ear ornaments representing precious stones. These elements confirm the status of the owner. Such vessels were often used in funerary offerings."—Edgar Suyuc (Kaqchikel Maya)

Visitors to our museum in New York City can see this object on view in our ongoing exhibition “Infinity of Nations” (also online). Plan your visit. https://s.si.edu/3Vw8IHK
During Hispanic Heritage Month, we highlight the Indigenous histories, cultures, and peoples of the Spanish-speaking Americas.
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Maya tripod vessel with lid, AD 350–450. Kaminalijuyú, Guatemala. Clay. 27 x 11 cm. Purchased from Judy Small. 23/2217

21/09/2026

“We always encouraged the students not to forget their Indian ways and to learn as much as they could from their parents and elders....Yes, paint in your own styles, but younger people also need to do whatever it takes to keep their old ways alive. You can do what you like, you can create whatever art you want, but don’t ever throw away your traditions. Only by understanding who you are and where you came from will you ever be able to create art that’s important.”—Gerónima Cruz Montoya (Ohkay Owingeh, 1915–2015)

Gerónima Cruz Montoya graduated first in her class at the Santa Fe Indian School in 1935. She succeeded her mentor Dorothy Dunn as head of the Studio art program there, serving from 1937 to 1961. Montoya’s main goal was to help students recognize the beauty of Native life and traditions and express it through their art. When she could focus on her own painting, she took inspiration from traditional Pueblo dances, home life, and Southwest rock art.

This tempera painting on paper depicts a pair of pronghorn or prairie antelope (Antilocapra americana) in the flat style that was traditionally taught by Dunn. The artist signed the piece with her Native name, Po-tsunu, in the lower right corner.

: Pronghorns are not true antelopes, which are indigenous to much of Asia and the African continent. However, they are distantly related to deer, and closely related to giraffes. Pronghorns are able to reach a running speed of 55 to 60 miles per hour, making them the fastest land mammal in the Americas.

See Cruz Montoya's take on the season of "Spring," in "Stretching the Canvs: Ten Decades of Native Painting," currently on view at our Washington, DC location. The exhibition examines how Native artists challenged perceptions of what constituted art and what Native art could and should look like. Featuring more than 50 works by over 40 artists, this exhibition tells the story of how American Indian art expanded after World War I and how Native painters began to advocate for themselves in a world that often ignored their talent. Plan your visit. https://s.si.edu/4eLgDfU
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Gerónima Cruz Montoya (Ohkay Owingeh, 1915–2015), "Fall," 1961. Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo), New Mexico. Tempera on paper. 44.1 x 30.3 cm. Purchased by Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB) representatives from the Division of Fine Arts of the Museum of New Mexico (Santa Fe, New Mexico) in 1961; part of the IACB Headquarters collection (Department of the Interior, Washington, DC) until 2000 when it was transferred to the museum, 26/2247

19/09/2026

: Just ONE WEEK until our in-person Teach-Ins, in partnership with Teaching for Change, at our museums in Washington, D.C., or New York City on Saturday, Sept. 26!

These professional development opportunities are a chance for educators to convene in person with the museum’s educators and scholars and discuss how to engage students with compelling questions and explorations of new ideas. In 2026, we ask "What does teaching about Indigenous people look like on the 250th anniversary of the United States? How can teachers inspire and empower their students to preserve our shared history?"

Learn more and register for our flagship Teach-In in DC: https://s.si.edu/4y24dqm
Cost: $20, coffee and lunch provided. Participants who complete the teach-in evaluation can receive professional development credit and a book.

Learn more and register for our mini Teach-In in NYC: https://s.si.edu/4qA9bs1
Cost: Free, participants who attend will receive a book and are eligible to get CTLE credits.

Can't make it to either location? Save the date for our ONLINE Teach-In on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. Stay tuned!

Teaching for Change

Hosted at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. 10th Annual Native Knowledge 360° Teach-In Cultural Sovereignty on the 25Oth Saturday, September 26, 20269:00AM – 2:30PM ETNational Museum of the American Indian4th Street SW, Washington, D.C. This event will be hosted IN PE...

17/09/2026

"American Indian," "Indian," "Native American," or "Indigenous?"
Which is correct?

There is no single correct term to refer to Indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere. Different terms may be used in different countries. “American Indian,” “Indian,” and “Native American,” are primarily used in the U.S.

The best term is always what an individual person or community uses to describe themselves.

“Indian” was used by explorer Christopher Columbus because he mistakenly believed he had sailed to India. Although the term is still used by individuals and communities in the U.S., it is not a preferred term in Canada and countries in Central and South America.

Canadians, too, have addressed the question of names—many Native Canadians, especially Métis (people of Indigenous and French descent) and Inuit people, reject the designation “Indian”. Canadians have developed a range of terms, including “First Nations,” and “First Peoples.”

Today, “Indian,” “American Indian” and “Native American” are legal terms with very specific meanings. As an example, U.S. law defines “Native American” to include Native Hawaiians and Pacific islanders from U.S. territories and possessions. Although they are included under this term, these groups generally do not self-identify as Native Americans.

Similarly, Alaska Natives do not generally self-identify as Native Americans or Indians. More than 200 Alaska Native tribal entities belonging to 11 distinct cultural groups share core values and traditions shaped by their connection to the land that is markedly different from that of Native peoples of the contiguous U.S.

The increased use of “American Indian” and “Native American” grew out of political movements of the 1960s and 1970s. These terms unified tribal nations and communities who shared similar struggles and challenges. The word "Indigenous" is a broader term that has become more prominent, especially with younger generations, and has offered a way for communities to build solidarity globally.

Like languages, the meaning and usage of these terms and others will continue to evolve over time.

The name of our museum can be traced back to the collection of George Gustav Heye (1874–1957), founder of the Museum of the American Indian in New York City in 1916. The name of the museum was retained in the transfer of the museum collection from a private institution to the Smithsonian Institution.

Legislation establishing the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian was co-sponsored by Sen. Daniel K. Inouye and Rep. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Northern Cheyenne) and was signed into law in 1989.

Find answers to more questions like this one in our publication “Do All Indians Live in Tipis?” available for purchase in our museum stores. The flags of hundreds of Indigenous communities can be seen throughout our Washington, D.C., museum.

Learn more at AmericanIndian.si.edu anytime or visit us in New York City or on the National Mall.