Museum of the American Indian to open on National Mall

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - The way the Smithsonian's new Museum of the American Indian tells the story of native people is as varied as the people it celebrates. The museum houses 8,000 objects from across the Western Hemisphere. There are movies and music; paintings, photographs and sculptures; masks, weapons and animals; jewelry and medals; even food and plants.

"Visitors will leave this museum experience knowing that Indians are not part of history," said the museum's director, W. Richard West Jr., who is of Southern Cheyenne extraction. "We are still here and making vital contributions to contemporary American culture and art."

The museum, which opens Tuesday, is expected to draw 4 million visitors a year. While an occasional drilling sound could be heard during a preview tour Wednesday, the museum is almost in opening-day shape.

Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lawrence Small called the five-story building a visually stunning edifice that offers a blend of nature and technology, of symbolism and significance.

"It's a living tribute to the first inhabitants of this nation," he said.

The museum sits on a four-acre site between the Capitol and the Washington Monument, and takes up the last remaining spot on the grassy National Mall. It is surrounded by 700 trees and fronted by a wetlands area with plants such as wild rice and yellow pond-lily.

Its exterior, made from Kasota limestone quarried from Minnesota, is rounded to reflect the curves of the earth, sun and moon, and the inside features a skylight topping off a series of narrowing concentric circles that make up the building's ceiling.

A good place to start a visit is at the 125-seat Lelawi Theater on the fourth floor, where viewers can get a museum overview by watching a 13-minute presentation called "Who We Are."

Simultaneous images are beamed at viewers from three places: small video screens in the center, a 40-foot planetarium-like dome on the ceiling, and a rock-shaped projector on the floor, which starts out as a storyteller's fire.

The film shows Indians working, praying and hunting, along with landscapes from South Dakota's Black Hills to the Alaskan coast, and animals such as elk and whales.

The museum opens with three permanent exhibits: "Our Universes," featuring tribal philosophies and world views; "Our Peoples," a look at historic events from a native peoples' perspective; and "Our Lives," which focuses on native people today.

The "Our Peoples" exhibit tackles some issues of interaction with the U.S. government and its European predecessors. It includes highlights - such as U.S. currency with the faces of American Indians - as well as lowlights, from treaties violated by the government to weapons used to kill Indians.

Next to a display of European swords, for example, the text grimly notes that these weapons "easily penetrated Indian shields and allowed Europeans to kill their opponents at arm's length."

But there is only a passing acknowledgment of tribes' relatively recent involvement in gambling casinos, income generators for nearly 40 percent of the 562 federally recognized tribes. In "Our Lives," a panel titled "Hard Choices" talks about the deep division over gaming within Native America.

Tribes made wealthy from gaming revenue contributed $33 million toward the museum's $214 million cost.

There is also a changing exhibition gallery, which will feature the art of American Indian artists George Morrison and Allan Houser in its inaugural exhibit, "Native Modernism."

Visitors can also check out interactive displays as they make their way from one exhibit to the next. In one such display - a collection of animals made of wood, ceramic and other materials - visitors can touch a computer screen that brings up information about each one.

Associated Press Writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this story.

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	Museum of the American Indian to open on National Mall By FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - The way the Smithsonian's new Museum of the American Indian tells the story of native people is as varied as the people it celebrates. The museum houses 8,000 objects from across the Western Hemisphere. There are movies and music; paintings, photographs and sculptures; masks, weapons and animals; jewelry and medals; even food and plants. "Visitors will leave this museum experience knowing that Indians are not part of history," said the museum's director, W. Richard West Jr., who is of Southern Cheyenne extraction. "We are still here and making vital contributions to contemporary American culture and art." The museum, which opens Tuesday, is expected to draw 4 million visitors a year. While an occasional drilling sound could be heard during a preview tour Wednesday, the museum is almost in opening-day shape. Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lawrence Small called the five-story building a visually stunning edifice that offers a blend of nature and technology, of symbolism and significance. "It's a living tribute to the first inhabitants of this nation," he said. The museum sits on a four-acre site between the Capitol and the Washington Monument, and takes up the last remaining spot on the grassy National Mall. It is surrounded by 700 trees and fronted by a wetlands area with plants such as wild rice and yellow pond-lily. Its exterior, made from Kasota limestone quarried from Minnesota, is rounded to reflect the curves of the earth, sun and moon, and the inside features a skylight topping off a series of narrowing concentric circles that make up the building's ceiling. A good place to start a visit is at the 125-seat Lelawi Theater on the fourth floor, where viewers can get a museum overview by watching a 13-minute presentation called "Who We Are." Simultaneous images are beamed at viewers from three places: small video screens in the center, a 40-foot planetarium-like dome on the ceiling, and a rock-shaped projector on the floor, which starts out as a storyteller's fire. The film shows Indians working, praying and hunting, along with landscapes from South Dakota's Black Hills to the Alaskan coast, and animals such as elk and whales. The museum opens with three permanent exhibits: "Our Universes," featuring tribal philosophies and world views; "Our Peoples," a look at historic events from a native peoples' perspective; and "Our Lives," which focuses on native people today. The "Our Peoples" exhibit tackles some issues of interaction with the U.S. government and its European predecessors. It includes highlights - such as U.S. currency with the faces of American Indians - as well as lowlights, from treaties violated by the government to weapons used to kill Indians. Next to a display of European swords, for example, the text grimly notes that these weapons "easily penetrated Indian shields and allowed Europeans to kill their opponents at arm's length." But there is only a passing acknowledgment of tribes' relatively recent involvement in gambling casinos, income generators for nearly 40 percent of the 562 federally recognized tribes. In "Our Lives," a panel titled "Hard Choices" talks about the deep division over gaming within Native America. Tribes made wealthy from gaming revenue contributed $33 million toward the museum's $214 million cost. There is also a changing exhibition gallery, which will feature the art of American Indian artists George Morrison and Allan Houser in its inaugural exhibit, "Native Modernism." Visitors can also check out interactive displays as they make their way from one exhibit to the next. In one such display - a collection of animals made of wood, ceramic and other materials - visitors can touch a computer screen that brings up information about each one. Associated Press Writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this story.