The full press-release is in the extended entry. When we passed through DC on our way home from the Outer Banks a month ago we parked in front of the museum. Work was still on-going. We were beyond pleased to see blank spaces in the Museum of Natural History where there used to be Indians. Don't get me wrong, we like, no, we love dinosaurs, but Indians are neither wicked extinct nor wicked exotic, so we don't really want to live with dinos, mastadons and dodos so much as visit them from time to time.
A lot of our friends are traveling to Washington City this weekend, to be at the opening of the NMAI. Not us. Its still election season, we've got candidates up and down ticket, so we're stay-at-homes.
Update: KE04 just sent out an invitation to astroturf the national native print media. Not one of their better ideas, since above-the-fold, below-the-fold, on-page-3, the op-ed pages, and continued-on-back-page will all be celebratory of locals at NMAI for the next week or so. I suppose the NMAI opening might have caught them by surprise.
National Museum of the American Indian Grand Opening
Location: District of Columbia
Directions: 4th St. and Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20024
The National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C., is located on the National Mall between the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum and the U.S. Capitol Building.
9:00 a.m. - Noon
Native Nations Procession
Native communities from throughout the Hemisphere are being invited to participate in the Procession on the National Mall, departing from 14th Street N.W. to the main stage of the Opening Ceremony, directly in front of the U.S. Capitol. The procession, open to all Natives and non-Natives supporters in the Western hemisphere, will include an Honor Guard of Native veterans.
Noon - 1:00 p.m.
Opening Ceremony
The ceremony will take place on the National Mall, with the U.S. Capitol as the backdrop. Following the speaking program, there will be a cultural presentation followed by a blessing ceremony. The museum will then be open to the public. Currently listed as speakers: NAMI Director W. Richard West, Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence M. Small, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, and Senator Daniel K. Inouye.
1:00 p.m. Social Dance
The National Congress of American Indians, in collaboration with the American Indian Society of Washington, DC, will host a cultural exchange on the National Mall. This cultural exchange will include sharing of tribal dances, songs, and other traditions by native people. The Social Dance will provide an opportunity for a cultural exchange for Native peoples throughout the world and others in attendance. This experience will provide an opportunity for international Indigenous peoples to honor the Museum's opening in their own way by sharing their unique lifeways, songs and dances. The spirit of this social dance is one of sharing and celebration, a way to allow all nations to share their culture with the world.
1:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. First Americans Festival
The First Americans Festival is free and open to the public. On five stages, musicians, dancers, and storytellers from throughout the Western Hemisphere will represent the breadth and depth of contemporary Native cultural arts.
The festival will present both traditional and contemporary performances. Arts and Crafts, a Native Market, and Native food will also be present.
5:30 p.m. Opening Night Concert
Charlie Hill (Oneida), emcee, Rita Coolidge (Cherokee), contemporary vocals with flutist Mary Youngblood (Aleut/Seminole), Lila Downs (Mixtec), world beat, Indigenous (Nakota), rock and blues
Buffy Sainte-Marie (Cree), contemporary vocals.
StartDate/Time: September 21, 2004 9:00 AM
End Date/Time: September 21, 2004 5:30 AM
Open To Press: Yes
Cost: Free
Contact Phone: 202-633-1000
Website: http://www.nmai.si.edu/
Geez, Even Buffy Sainte-Marie was there. Sorry to have missed it, I was out campaigning and recovering from an illness. Sounds like a fun time. Mark me as another professionally trained Anthropologist who was and reamins a charter member of this effort. I don't understand your ref. to the KE efforts here. The NMAI opening was barely reported on, and I got only one single notice about a month or so back. It would have been easy to miss beyond the beltway in most of the 'mass media'
Posted by: VJ at September 19, 2004 04:14 AMThe Indian-targeted message that came out of KE04 yesterday afternoon was an invite to astroturf Indian newspapers on the demerits of the Bush record and the merits of the KE04 plan. Since we're 90% D, making the case for turnout and its importance for tribes to have influence in electoral politics would have been a better tack than a better-than-Bush message. Any message however is wasted, since the NMAI opening will dominate the Indian press.
I wasn't referring to a KE04 event at the Mall, proximal to the NMAI. Nor to non-Indian media coverage of the NMAI opening.
Posted by: Eric at September 19, 2004 05:36 AM