Sharing the Circle

The approximately one million objects in the National Museum of the American Indian collection were amassed by George Gustav Heye from 1874 to 1957. The collection spans the Western Hemisphere from the Arctic to Tiera del Fuego and from California to the Caribbean. In 1989, through an act of Congress, the National Museum of the American Indian became part of the Smithsonian Institution, the largest museum complex in the world. Its George Gustav Heye Center at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House is one of three sites comprising the museum. Plans were underway for a museum building near the Capitol in Washington, D.C., to serve as the public cornerstone of the museum, while much of the collection was to reside in Suitland, Maryland, where objects would be housed, viewed, and used by native peoples for purposes including ceremonial rite and artistic reference. Dedicated to educating the public about the diversity and vitality of native cultures throughout the Western Hemisphere, the museum actively supports the involvement of native communities in the management of their own cultural resources. A Fourth Museum exists as outreach and training within native communities, shaped by the needs and wishes of native communities, tribal cultural centers, schools, libraries, and individuals.

New York, New York · United States