Psychiatr News February 15, 2008
Volume 43, Number 4, page 4
© 2008 American Psychiatric Association
500 Years of Triumph, Tragedy in Focus at Newest Museum
Joan Arehart-Treichel
The National Museum of the American Indian is the new jewel in the
Smithsonian family of museums. Its Native Foods café is one of the
highlights of the museum, which itself is an architectural gem.
Who would expect a museum to titillate your senses of smell and taste? But
that is exactly what the National Museum of the American Indian will do if you
visit its Native Foods
Café.
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Native-American architects helped design the National Museum of the
American Indian, which presents exhibitions from a Native perspective. The
museum's curved shape denotes natural rock formations.
Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution
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Actually, the café is a food court featuring Native-American
cuisines found throughout the Western Hemisphere, including the Northern
Woodlands, South America, the Northwest Coast, Meso America, and the Great
Plains.
Each food station depicts regional ways of life related to cooking
techniques, ingredients, and flavors found in both traditional and
contemporary dishes. You can purchase food from the various regions, then take
a seat in the café, which looks onto a spectacular Native-American
habitat. Then you might exclaim "Mitsitam!," which means
"let's eat" in the languages of the Delaware and Piscataway
peoples. "I had the corn pone, acorn squash, and hibiscus aqua fresca
and was astounded at how utterly simple and delicious every item was,"
one museum visitor reported.
After you've enjoyed this unique culinary experience, you can take in the
museum's exhibits exploring various aspects of Native-American life.
One of the permanent exhibits, "Our Universes: Traditional Knowledge
Shapes Our World," focuses on cosmology—the worldviews and
philosophies related to the creation and order of the universe—and the
spiritual relationship between mankind and the natural world. Organized around
one solar year, the exhibit explores the annual ceremonies of Native peoples
as a window on ancestral Native teachings. Under a "night sky" of
fiber-optic stars and constellations, you can discover how celestial bodies
shape the daily lives and establish the calendars of ceremonies and
celebrations of native peoples today.
Another of the museum's permanent exhibits, "Our People: Giving Voice
to Our Histories," explores events that shaped the lives and outlook of
Native Americans from the 15th century to the present. The Seminole tribe of
Florida, the Tapirape of Brazil, the Kiowa Nation of Oklahoma, and other
tribes reflect on their past and on events that have shaped them as distinct
peoples.
Yet a third permanent exhibit, "Our Lives: Contemporary Life and
Identities," examines the identities of native peoples in the 21st
century and how those identities, both individual and communal, are being
shaped by deliberate choices made in challenging circumstances. The Kumeyaay
Indians of California, the Urban Indians of Chicago, the Pamunkey Indians of
Virginia, among others, contribute to this telling.
The museum also hosts temporary exhibits. One that will run through August
is an exhibit of Native-American dresses—"beautiful and exquisite
dresses that will make you sigh and that will move your heart and
spirit," one museum visitor noted.
The museum likewise has a circular theater called the Lelawi Theater. It
offers a dazzling multimedia experience designed to prepare visitors for the
themes and messages that they will encounter during their museum visit.
Yet the heart of the museum is the Potomac, a central gathering place where
visitors can enjoy live presentations—say, the building of canoes and
kayaks—as well as social events. The word "Potomac," which
comes from the Piscataway word meaning "where the goods are brought
in," honors the native peoples of the Washington, D.C., area.
MORE INFORMATION
National Museum of Natural History
10th Street, N.W., and Constitution Avenue, N.W., (202) 633-1000,
www.mnh.si.edu/
National Air and Space Museum
Independence Avenue, S.W., at 6th Street, S.W., (202) 633-1000,
www.nasm.si.edu/
National Museum of the American Indian
Independence Avenue, S.W., at 4th Street, S.W., (202) 633-1000,
www.nmai.si.edu/
Anacostia Community Museum
1901 Fort Place, S.E., (202) 633-4820,
http://anacostia.si.edu/
National Postal Museum
2 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E., (202) 633-5555,
www.postalmuseum.si.edu/
Information about all the Smithsonian museums can be accessed at
<www.si.edu>.
Note that the National Museum of American History is closed for
renovations. 
Related Article:
-
Surprise Gift Keeps on Giving After More Than 160 Years
- Joan Arehart-Treichel
Psychiatr News 2008 43: 4.
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