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Indian Museum Gives Visibility to Native Americans at a Critical Time, Duke Expert Says

The Smithsonian Institute will open a 250,000-square-foot space in September to feature Native American culture

The opening of the National Museum of the American Indian gives Native Americans a chance to project a positive image at a time when tribes are facing a backlash because of casino gambling, says a Duke University expert on Native Americans.

"The museum is opening in the context of very complex, ambivalent American views about Indians," said Orin Starn, a cultural anthropologist.

The 250,000-square-foot museum, part of the Smithsonian Institution, is situated on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and is scheduled to open Sept. 21. The opening will include a "Native Nations" procession, opening ceremonies and a six-day First Americans Festival that will feature native foods, music, dance and a market.

"The Indians need museums because they show a different face of Indian society. It's the kind of publicity that Native America needs right now," Starn said.

Starn is the author of "Ishi's Brain: In Search of America's Last 'Wild' Indian," which explores the story of the last survivor of California's Yahi tribe. In the book, Starn traces the brain of Ishi, which had been removed upon his death and taken to the Smithsonian archives. As a result of Starn's research, Ishi's brain was returned to Native Americans in California.

Americans' views of Indians have shifted over the years: from bloodthirsty savages who needed to be killed or removed, to a romantic view of Indians as noble and in touch with the land, to a new feeling that tribes are exploiting federal law to make billions from casinos, Starn said.

"Central to the museum is getting Americans to appreciate the diversity and complexity of Indian history," he said. "It's part of a movement of Indians to build their own museums. Before, Indians were always behind glass in these museums run by white people. Now they're saying, 'Yes, we want to have museums about our culture, but we want to decide what's displayed.'"

The museum's three permanent exhibits feature a representative group of 24 tribes from Canada to South America.

"The question of who is an Indian is very complicated in the United States today," Starn said. "It's often now considered cool to be Indian, so people with small amounts of Indian blood now identifying themselves as Indian.

"In this context, museums are really important because the museums teach about tribal language and tribal heritage. Now in the 21st century, when many Indians themselves worry about losing touch with the old ways, these museums say, 'Here are our artifacts, here is our culture, here is our heritage.'"

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