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Timeline / Renewing Native Ways / 2004: The National Museum of the American Indian opens

2004: The National Museum of the American Indian opens

On September 21, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian opens to the public to celebrate the art and cultures of American Indians. More than 80,000 spectators come to the National Mall to watch a procession of Native nations, represented by 25,000 Native peoples—most in full dress regalia—from across the U.S. and the rest of the Western Hemisphere. The streets along the National Mall are closed for hours as the procession wends its way back to the museum, located 400 yards from the U.S. Capitol.

www.AmericanIndian.si.edu

Theme
Federal-Tribal Relations
Region
Arctic, California, Great Basin, Great Plains, Hawai‘i, Northeast, Northwest Coast, Plateau, Southeast, Southwest, Subarctic

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Cheyenne chiefs gather with thousands of other American Indians on the National Mall for a Native nations procession to dedicate the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C., September 21, 2004

Courtesy Associated Press

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Andrew Old Elk, Crow, passes in front of the National Museum of the American Indian during celebrations at the grand opening of the museum on September 21, 2004

Courtesy Reuters/Jason Reed