Note: All submitted events must be approved before they appear in the calendar.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian is now open every day. Look for the QR codes and enjoy a free tour with new bilingual (English-Spanish) audio guides, which can be accessed via your cellphone. For all information about visiting, go to AmericanIndian.si.edu.
Tsimshian Celebration featuring the Git Hoan Dancers
Join us in person
Saturday and Sunday, July 9-10, 12 and 2 p.m.
Celebrate with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian the 10th anniversary of the creation of the Eagle and the Young Chief totem pole with its carvers, David A. Boxley and his son, David R. Boxley (both Tsimshian), and the Git Hoan Dancers. The dances tell the history of the Tsimshian First Nation. They feature stunning hand-carved masks by David Boxley Sr. and colorful handmade regalia emblazoned with symbols of Tsimshian culture.
Photo by Git Hoan.
The Mitsitam Native Foods Café is open every day
Feast on seasonal Indigenous-inspired selections such as Indian tacos, turkey and pinto bean chili, frybread with cinnamon and mesquite honey, grilled items, salads, desserts, snacks, coffee, and beverages. Mitsitam Native Foods Café provides the opportunity to enjoy and experience Indigenous cuisines of the Americas. “Mitsitam” means “Let’s eat!” in the Native language of the Delaware and Piscataway peoples.
Ancestors Know Who We Are
Launching online June 15, 2022
Press release is available here
Featuring works by six contemporary Black-Indigenous women artists, this new online exhibition addresses issues of race, gender, multiracial identity, and intergenerational knowledge. Visit the website to experience artwork by Rodslen Brown (Black/Cherokee Nation, 1960–2020), Joelle Joyner (African American and Kauwets’a:ka [Meherrin] descent), Moira Pernambuco (African and Amerindian [Wapishana]), Paige Pettibon (Black, Salish, and white descent), Monica Rickert-Bolter (Prairie Band Potawatomi, Black, and German), and Storme Webber (Alaskan Sugpiaq [Alutiiq] and Black descent). The exhibition also features artist interviews and writings by Black and Black-Indigenous scholars in the fields of history, gender studies, art history, and education, including Kyle T. Mays (Black/Saginaw Chippewa), fari nzinga, Lillian Sparks Robinson (Black/Sicangu Lakota), and Amber Starks (Black/Muscogee Creek).
This project received support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative.
Teacher Workshop Series
Life Along the River: The Pamunkey Indian Tribe of Virginia
Online: Register here
Tuesday, June 28, 4–5:30 p.m.
A two-part workshop series designed to introduce teachers to the new digital storybook for 4th and 5th graders. The storybook explores the history and contemporary lives of the Pamunkey peoples and includes related lesson plans and student learning activities. The content of the storybook is organized into four chapters: place, community and culture, history, and the future.
Guided by a facilitator, teachers will read the digital storybook, which contains narrative text that is supported by featured images, objects, maps, and primary source documents. Discussion questions, important vocabulary, and audio pronunciation of Native names and places are included in every chapter. To support and strengthen classroom implementation, the digital storybook contains related lessons and printable materials for teachers and students. These materials offer guidance on appropriate teaching of Pamunkey history and culture and recommended sequencing of student activities. Lessons and graphic organizers are designed to help students make connections between Pamunkey peoples’ communities, histories, and current lives and their own. Recommended for teachers of grades 4 and 5. Meets Social Studies and Environmental Science standards.
