Overview

The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is a Native place that celebrates indigenous cultures and voices from across the Americas. Opened on September 21, 2004, the new museum on the National Mall is an exhibition space that draws on a collection of more than 800,000 objects and serves as a center for educational activities, ceremonies, and performances.

NMAI was founded by an Act of Congress in 1989. Soon after, museum staff members began the first of hundreds of conversations with indigenous peoples on how the museum should look and feel, both inside and out. The museum's design and exhibitions were shaped by these close and ongoing relationships with Native communities throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Three permanent exhibitions—Our Universes, Our Peoples, and Our Lives—examine, respectively, Native philosophies, histories, and contemporary lives. Each exhibition includes eight galleries that were developed in collaboration with members of Native communities. Other areas were developed by NMAI staff.