Exhibitions

Our Lives: Contemporary Life and Identities

September 21, 2004 – July 6, 2015

National Museum of the American Indian
4th St. & Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC

3rd level

See on Map Floor Plan

This exhibition examines the identities of Native peoples in the 21st century, and how those identities—both individual and communal—are the results of deliberate, often difficult choices made in challenging circumstances. This exhibition explores the forces in modern Native life that Native peoples are profoundly influenced by—their families and communities, the language they speak, the places they live and identify with, and their own self determination. Eight communities contributed their stories to this telling: the Campo Band of Kumeyaay Indians (Southern California), urban Indian community of Chicago (Illinois), Yakama Nation (Washington State), Igloolik (Nunavut, Canada), Kahnawake Mohawk (Quebec, Canada), Saint-Laurent Metis (Manitoba, Canada), Kalinago (Dominica), and Pamunkey (Virginia).