On September 21, 2004, The National Museum of the American Indian opened its doors on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
For those of us who care, we are now being given an opportunity to learn from our first American's own stories what they've gone through for the past 500 years ~ in both their triumphs and their tragedies. In the Museum's own words, I give you a slice of the richness of these significant voices:
The building itself has a language of its own...a living museum, located close to nature, designed to make specific celestial references such as an east-facing main entrance and a dome that opens to the sky.
The community galleries feature eight cultural philosophies...the design of these galleries reflects each community's interpretaton of the order of the world.
Traditional knowledge shapes our world...our philosophies of life come from our ancestors.
"We want to preserve our identity, history, land, language, and values for our children. Our children ~ our future ~ must understand our history so no one can say our culture is gone. If we do not preserve this, our lives won't belong to us anymore." ~ Tapirapi curators (Mato Grasso, Brazil), 2002
The National Museum of the American Indian
This is a monumental testament to the first Americans steadfastness to keep their culture alive, and I can only think that the reason it has happened is because it has been based on Universal Truth.
