National Museum of the American Indian

On my recent trip to the New York I took the opportunity to meet John Haworth and check out t the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. The New York centre is named after George Gustav Heye whose personal collection became the core of  NMAI collection when it became a  Smithsonian Institute in the 1989. The Center is located in the Alexander Hamilton  US Customs House  just near Battery Park and at the begining of Broadway.  Opened in 1907 the building is listed on the National American Register of Historic Places and is extraordinary and imposing. The Museum which opened in 1994, shares the building with the Bankruptcy court but has offices, exhibition space and education centre on the ground floor and on the first floor (or second floor in America) two exhibition spaces off the building's central rotunda  and a shop and information centre of the  foyer. The Washington Campus is located on the Mall and was opened in 2004.

The permanent exhibition (well though to 2020) is Infinity of Nations and represents the indigenous people of the Americas from Tierra de Fuego in the south to Alaska and the Arctic in the north. As you walk though this extraordinary collection of artifact, objects and art you see the relationships between each of the indigenous cultures, the effect of trading routes as well as white settlements. http://www.nmai.si.edu/exhibitions/infinityofnations/

Also on this floor is A Song for the Horse Nations which examines the effect of the introduction of horses by the Spanish on the American Indian lifestyle. http://www.nmai.si.edu/exhibitions/horsenation/

On the ground floor is a function room that also doubles as an exhibition space. The current exhibition is Small Spirits: Dolls from the National Museum of the American Indian. Each of the dolls reflects different communities and traditions of Native peoples and are drawn from the collection.

Just opened is a mid career survey of internationally renowned glass artist Preston Singletary (Tlingit). Echoes, Fire, and Shadows. In theses beautiful glass works there is in incorporation of contemporary glass technique and Tlingit motif.

On his website  http://prestonsingletary.com/ he states

I sometimes hope that people will view my work on other levels not associated with “ethnic art.” At the same time, it is this inspiration that gives my work its power. I see my work as an extension of tradition and a declaration that Native cultures are alive and developing new technologies and new ways of communicating the ancient codes and symbols of this land.

Being there in the morning meant I was also caught up in a number of school groups being lead though the exhibitions. Each of the guides was of American Indian decent and spoke with great connection and pride about the knowledge they were sharing.

The Museum is certainly worth the time on your next trip to New York! - Michael Huxley

Images from top left in a clockwise direction. Exterior: National Museum of the American Indian , Small Spirits: Dolls from the National Museum of the American Indian, glass baskets from Preston Singletary: Echoes, Fire and Shadows, guide with school group in the A Song for the Horse Nations exhibition. Education Centre located in the Old Treasury Room.