Museum of the American Indian Using New Exhibit to Spread Its New Message

DC's Smithsonian museums (there are 17 of them here in the city) are among America's most visited and treasured places. But the Smithsonian also publishes a series of some of the most interesting, fact-filled blogs appearing anywhere on the internet. Each Sunday, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry either about the Smithsonian or that 1st appeared in 1 of the institution's blogs. Hope you enjoy and maybe we'll see you soon at the Smithsonian.

The confusion begins with the entrance to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, a soaring, curving stone building at the southeastern corner of the Mall.

The entrance faces east — a symbolic nod to the many Native Americans who orient their homes to the east and the rising sun — but that makes it difficult for visitors coming from the Mall or Metro to find their way in, and entering through the back door diminishes the dramatic effect of the Potomac Atrium .

The two major exhibitions on the upper floors are similarly confounding. “Our Lives” celebrates the survival of the dispossessed without chronicling the policies and battles that brought them close to extinction, while “Our Universes” spotlights the creation myths of seven nations without drawing any connections or contrasts between them.

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in The Washington Post, click here.