Americans (Touring Exhibition from the Smithsonian)

Description

Limited Tour: only 5 California host venues! Based on a major exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, Americans sparks dialogue, reflection, and understanding by exploring how deeply intertwined American Indians are in the culture of the United States.

Adapted from an original exhibition developed by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Americans focuses on four historical events that inform American history and contemporary life: Thanksgiving, the life of Pocahontas, the Trail of Tears, and the Battle of Little Bighorn. The exhibition reveals what is remembered, contested, cherished, and denied, and why that still resonates.

Americans surrounds visitors with images and objects from popular culture and delves into these historical events. The exhibition invites visitors to explore this complicated history and to share local stories about Native American history and culture and identity. It also invites visitors to reflect on the pervasiveness of images of Native Americans, from the Land O’Lakes butter maiden to sports mascots, and from classic Westerns and cartoons to episodes of Seinfeld and South Park. American Indian names are everywhere too, from state, city, and street names to the Tomahawk missile.

The exhibit asks: do these images make Indigenous peoples more or less visible? Often powerful, and at times demeaning, the images, names, and stories reveal the deep connections between Americans and American Indians, as well as how Indians have been embedded in unexpected ways in the history, pop culture, and identity of the United States.

Learn more about this exhibit and find resources, including a full exhibition outline, on Museum on Main Street’s website.

Americans was developed by the National Museum of the American Indian. The exhibition was adapted for travel by Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and state humanities councils nationwide. Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress. The California tour of Americans has been made possible by Exhibit Envoy, a nonprofit.