(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm SteveEmber.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Faith Lapidus. Today we tell about the National Museum ofthe American Indian which opens this week in Washington, D.C.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
The National Museum of theAmerican Indian is opening with six days of events celebratingIndian culture. The events begin on Tuesday with a Native NationsProcession. About fifteen thousand people from North, Central andSouth America are expected to walk along the National Mall andgather for the museum's opening ceremony. Many will be wearingtraditional Native clothing. During the week, more than threehundred performers and artists will present music, dance andstorytelling as part of the First Americans Festival.
The new National Museum of the American Indian is part of theSmithsonian Institution, a group of museums operated by thegovernment. It was built on the last open space on the Mall, betweenthe Air and Space Museum and the United States Capitol.
But the National Museum of the American Indian is more thananother museum in Washington. It is a gathering place for livingcultures. Its goal is to save, study and show the life, languages,history and arts of the Native people of North, Central and SouthAmerica. One thousand Native communities are represented.
VOICE TWO:
The most important words in the museum's goal are "livingcultures." This museum shows American Indian objects from the pastand also from the present. Native people provide the explanationsabout the meaning and importance of the objects. Members of theseliving cultures played an important part in creating the new museum.They also decided which objects to show to the public and how theyshould be shown.
Visitors can see more than seven thousand objects in the newmuseum. Some of them are more than ten thousand years old.
VOICE ONE:
These are some of the objectsvisitors can see in the new Museum of the American Indian: Wood andstone carvings and face coverings from the northwest coast of NorthAmerica. Clothing and head coverings made of animal skins andfeathers from the North American plains. Clay pots, woven basketsand silver jewelry from the southwestern United States.
The collection also includes ancient objects from the Nativepeoples of the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America.
These include ceramic containers from Costa Rica, Mexico andPeru. Beautifully carved jade objects from the Olmec and Mayapeoples. Woven cloths and gold objects from the Andean cultures.
VOICE TWO:
The objects are shown in three permanent exhibits. Through theseobjects, twenty-four Native communities tell their own stories ofwho they are. The exhibits are called "Our Universes," "Our Peoples"and "Our Lives." "Our Universes" explores Native peoples' theoriesabout the world around them and their spiritual worlds. It containsobjects and stories that tell about the values and beliefs ofdifferent Native cultures.
In "Our Peoples," several Native communities present their tribalhistories. They have chosen the objects, pictures, songs and othermaterials to tell about their past and their present.
"Our Lives" examines the modern history of several Nativecommunities through their cultural, social and political beliefs.
VOICE ONE:
Richard West has been the directorof the Museum of the American Indian since nineteen ninety. He is amember of the Southern Cheyenne tribe. Mister West says the museumwill show the success of Native people in keeping their way of lifeand overcoming pressures against them. He says it "will be a placeto show and tell the world who we are and to use our own voices inthe telling."
Mister West said the museum would not avoid addressing thetroubles in American Indian communities since the arrival ofcolonial powers five hundred years ago. These include brokentreaties with Indian tribes, the capture of Native lands and thekilling of Native Americans. They also include the poor livingconditions on reservations where many Native Americans live today.
Experts say building the museum in the very heart of the nation'scapital represents a kind of cultural justice. It is a sign of along-delayed cooperation between the people whose ancestors came tothis country and the people who were already here.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
The National Museum of theAmerican Indian owns about eight hundred thousand objects. They arefrom the collection of one man, American businessman George GustavHeye. He spent the first fifty years of the last century gatheringAmerican Indian objects. He created one of the largest collectionsin the world. He collected objects from the far northern ArcticCircle to the southern tip of South America. These objects havegreat artistic, historic and cultural meaning.
In nineteen twenty-two, the Heye Foundation opened a privatemuseum in New York City to show the collection. However, the museumhad space to show the public only a small part of the collection.The foundation did not have enough money to expand the museum or tocorrectly care for the huge number of objects being stored.
After years of negotiations, an agreement was reached to make theHeye Foundation Museum of the American Indian part of theSmithsonian Institution. Congress approved the action in nineteeneighty-nine.
In nineteen ninety-four, the George Gustav Heye Center of theNational Museum of the American Indian opened in the old CustomHouse in New York City. It is one of the most visited museums in NewYork. It will continue to offer major exhibits and public programs.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Thomas Sweeney is the head of public relations for the newNational Museum of the American Indian. He says tribalrepresentatives from the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Centraland South America were asked for their ideas about the design of thenew building. They said the building needed roundness, light andopen space, natural materials, water and plants.
The finished design of the museum includes all this. It isbeautiful and unusual. It looks like no other building inWashington. The museum covers only about twenty-five percent of thetwo hectares of land that surrounds it. It fits into the setting onthe Mall, yet it shows traditional American Indian values.
The outside wall is made of different size blocks of sand-coloredlimestone. It looks like waves of stone. The wall seems to flow asif formed by wind and water. Glass window areas provide light and aconnection between inside and out.
VOICE TWO:
The main entrance to the museum faces east and the rising sun,like the doorway in a traditional American Indian home. About thirtythousand trees and plants native to the area surround the building.The grounds recreate four traditional environments of Nativepeoples: A hardwood forest. Lowland freshwater wetlands. Easterngrassy meadows. And traditional croplands where beans, corn andsquash will be grown.
Water is very much a part of the building's surroundings. Itflows over and around rocks. There are more than forty huge rocksfrom Canada called Grandfather Rocks. They show the respect ofNative Americans for ancient things that existed in the area longbefore people arrived.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Visitors to the National Museum of the American Indian enter alarge central circular space. It has a rounded top more thanthirty-three meters high that is similar to the dome of the nearbyCapitol building. This area is called Potomac, which in the Nativelocal language means "where the goods are brought in."
Live demonstrations like boatbuilding, storytelling, music, anddance will take place here. The public will experience the livingtraditions and skills of Native people.
VOICE TWO:
One of the most important parts of the new National Museum of theAmerican Indian is called the Fourth Museum. This is not a physicalstructure. It is the Community Services office, a link between themuseum and Native communities throughout the Americas.
Native people have been employed to work with individuals,communities and organizations to develop museum programs. They havecreated traveling exhibits, educational materials and an InternetWeb site. The address is americanindian.si.edu. The National Museumof the American Indian will use these to inform people around theworld about the living Native cultures of the Americas.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Our program was written by Marilyn Christiano and ShelleyGollust. It was produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for THIS ISAMERICA in VOA Special English. We leave you now with a Lakota SiouxIndian song, "Heart is Sad, The Morning Song."