Celebrate Native American Heritage Month at the Smithsonian

Celebrate Native American Heritage Month at the Smithsonian this November with engaging family programs and performances, new exhibitions and a wide variety of online resources.

Festivals and Programs (Washington, D.C.)

Visitors to the National Museum of the American Indian can start the month with the two-day Mvskoke Etvlwv: The Muscogee People Festival, Friday, Nov. 1, and Saturday, Nov. 2,10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. each day. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation will perform Stomp dancing, showcase fashion and jewelry, share traditional recipes and honor Native service members with veterans presentations. Hands-on activities for children and families will be offered in the imagiNATIONS Activity Center. The festival is free; no registration required.

The National Museum of the American Latino celebrates Día de los Muertos Saturday, Nov. 2, from 4 to 10 p.m. at La Cosecha Latino Market in Washington. Guests are invited to learn about the holiday and honor their friends and family in the afterlife with music and dance performances, Latino foods, crafts and a Muertos parade with costumes and masks. The event is free; no registration required.

On Monday, Nov. 11, the National Museum of the American Indian will honor the service and sacrifice of Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian veterans with a full day of programming at the museum. The day will conclude with a wreath-laying ceremony at the National Native American Veterans Memorial, which is located on the grounds of the museum. The event is free; no registration is required.

The National Museum of the American Indian’s educators present “Goat in the Rug” puppet theater, an interactive experience for young visitors to understand the care and pride involved in weaving a Navajo rug, as well as the importance of cooperation between friends. They will learn the story of Geraldine, a goat, and Nasbah, a Navajo weaver, through a puppet show based on the book Goat in the Rug by Charles L. Blood and Martin Link.

This family-friendly puppet show is recommended for children up to age 10 years and will take place Saturday, Nov. 16, and Sunday, Nov. 17, at 11:15 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in the imagiNATIONS Activity Center. The performances are first come, first served. Tickets may be required due to capacity limitations. Inquire at the imagiNATIONS Activity Center entry desk on the museum’s third floor for more information.

Native American Heritage Day (Nov. 29) recognizes the contributions of Indigenous peoples to the United States. This year, the National Museum of the American Indian is partnering with the U.S. Mint and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum to honor Zitkala-Ša (translated “Red Bird”), a member of the Yankton Dakota Sioux on South Dakota’s Yankton Indian Reservation. Zitkala-Ša (1876–1938) will be the 15th woman honored as part of the U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters Program. Hoop Dancer Starr Chief Eagle, a member of the Sicangu (Rosebud) Lakota Sioux Tribe, shares her Lakota culture in this tribute performance, offered at 11:30 a.m., 12:30, 2 and 3 p.m., in the museum’s Potomac Atrium.

Exhibitions (Washington, D.C.)

The National Museum of the American Indian’s recently opened “Sublime Light: Tapestry Art of DY Begay” celebrates more than three decades of innovation by fiber artist DY Begay (Diné [Navajo], b. 1953). Begay’s tapestry art is at once fundamentally modern and essentially Diné, each work an exploration of the artist’s passion for experiencing and interpreting her world. The primary world that Begay explores is Tsélaní, her birthplace and homeland on the Navajo Nation reservation. From this firm foundation, her innate and lifelong curiosity has motivated her to investigate the expressive power of color and design in developing her distinctive aesthetic.

At the National Museum of Asian Art, “Shifting Boundaries: Perspectives on American Landscapes” recontextualizes the paintings of Willard Metcalf, Dwight Tryon, Winslow Homer and Abbott Thayer. The artists’ idyllic portrayals of New England are reinterpreted by Smithsonian and community curators, including Elizabeth James-Perry (Aquinnah Wampanoag artist), to include Indigenous histories.

Festivals and Programs (New York City)

Visitors in New York City can take part in the National Museum of the American Indian’s Día de los Muertos event, Saturday, Nov. 2, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors can learn about the museum’s ofrenda (altar) that honors ancestors and watch traditional dances by New York-based Aztec dance group Cetiliztli Nauhcampa. Crafts for all ages include making paper marigolds and decorating a plaster skull. The event is free; no registration required.

For Native American Heritage Day, the National Museum of the American Indian in New York presents Stomp dancing by Hithla, a dance troupe comprised of members of the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Seminole and Creek Nations. Performances begin at noon, 2 and 4 p.m. both Friday, Nov. 29, and Saturday, Nov. 30. The event is free; no registration required.

Films

The National Museum of the American Indian’s Native Cinema Showcase is an annual celebration of the best in Native film. This year’s series explores the challenges still confronting Indigenous peoples on disparate fronts, including sports, missing and murdered Indigenous women, intergenerational trauma, and rematriation of the land with buffalo.

The films will be available to stream on demand beginning Friday, Nov. 22, at 12:01 a.m., EST, through Friday, Nov. 29, at 11:59 p.m. EST. on the Native Cinema Showcase 2024 website. The link can be found on the museum’s calendar page.

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