Americans, a traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street and the National Museum of the American Indian, explores how deeply intertwined American Indians are in the culture of the United States.
American Indians are about 2 percent of the population, yet images of Indians are everywhere. From imagery on commercial products and professional and high school sports mascots, to classic Westerns and episodes of Seinfeld and South Park, we are surrounded by American Indian imagery. Indian names are everywhere too, from state, city, and street names to the Tomahawk missile.
Pervasive, powerful, at times demeaning, the images, names, and stories reveal the deep connection between Americans and American Indians as well as how Indians have been embedded in unexpected ways in the history, popular culture, and identity of the United States.
The exhibition highlights the ways in which American Indians have been part of the nation’s identity since before the country began and offers a new way of understanding a few familiar events:
Thanksgiving was a modern invention.
Pocahontas was a key figure in the country’s founding.
The Trail of Tears was a vast national project that reshaped the entire country.
The Battle of Little Bighorn and its aftermath when Indians became the country’s unofficial mascots.
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.
Curated by Paul Chaat Smith (Comanche), Americans is based on a major exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.
Americans was developed by the Smithsonian’s 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 across the country.
Support is provided by the Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250, a Smithsonian-wide initiative commemorating the nation’s 250th. Signature support for Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250 has been provided by Lilly Endowment Inc.
About Museum on Main Street (MoMS)
MoMS is a partnership of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service | Smithsonian Affiliations and state partner organizations. It was created to serve museums, libraries, and historical societies in rural areas, where about one-fifth of all Americans live. The partnership brings exhibitions, educational resources, and programming to small towns across America. MoMS has visited all 50 U.S. states as well as Guam and inspired over 1,900 towns to rediscover their local histories while finding a renewed sense of community pride. Visit online at museumonmainstreet.org.
