The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, D.C. cares for one of the world’s most expansive collections of native artifacts, including objects, photographs, archives, and media covering the entire western hemisphere, from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego.
Established in 1989, through an Act of Congress, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian is an institution of living cultures dedicated to advancing knowledge and understanding of the life, languages, literature, history and arts of the native peoples of the western hemisphere.
The NMAI operates three facilities. The NMAI on the National Mall in Washington D.C.; the George Gustav Heye Center, a permanent museum in lower Manhattan; and the Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Maryland, which houses the museum’s collections as well as the conservation, repatriation, and digital imaging programs, and research facilities. The NMAI’s off-site outreach efforts, often referred to as the “fourth museum,” include websites, traveling exhibitions, and community programs.
NMAI is committed to bringing native voices to what the museum writes and presents, whether on-site, at one of the three NMAI venues, through the museum’s publications, or via the Internet.