The National Museum of the American Indian (George Gustav Heye Center)

Museum in The Lower Manhattan area

poster for The National Museum of the American Indian (George Gustav Heye Center)
Add this to my venues

The National Museum of the American Indian is the sixteenth museum of the Smithsonian Institution. It is the first national museum dedicated to the preservation, study, and exhibition of the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of Native Americans. Established by an act of Congress in 1989, the museum works in collaboration with the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere to protect and foster their cultures by reaffirming traditions and beliefs, encouraging contemporary artistic expression, and empowering the Indian voice.

The museum's extensive collections, assembled largely by George Gustav Heye (1874–1957), encompass a vast range of cultural material—including more that 800,000 works of extraordinary aesthetic, religious, and historical significance, as well as articles produced for everyday, utilitarian use. The collections span all major culture areas of the Americas, representing virtually all tribes of the United States, most of those of Canada, and a significant number of cultures from Central and South America as well as the Caribbean. Chronologically, the collections include artifacts from Paleo-Indian to contemporary arts and crafts. The museum's holdings also include film and audiovisual collections, paper archives, and a photography archive of approximately 90,000 images depicting both historic and contemporary Native American life.

The National Museum of the American Indian comprises three facilities, each designed following consultations between museum staff and Native peoples. In all of its activities, the National Museum of the American Indian acknowledges the diversity of cultures and the continuity of cultural knowledge among indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere and Hawai'i, incorporating Native methodologies for the handling, documentation, care, and presentation of collections. NMAI actively strives to find new approaches to the study and representation of the history, materials, and cultures of Native peoples.

Current or Upcoming Events

» Browse the past events for this venue

Has a shopNo parkingNo restaurant/cafeNo Library/BookstoreAccessible to disabled persons

Opening hours

From 10:00 to 17:00
thursdays closing at 20:00
Note:Closed on December 25. The Museum Stores are open every day from 10 am to 5 pm.

Fee

Free

Access

Address: 1 Bowling Green, New York, NY 10004
Phone: 212-514-3700

Adjacent to NE corner of Battery Park. Subway: 4/5 to Bowling Green, 1 to South Ferry, R/W to Whitehall Street, M/J/Z to Broad Street.

Google map

When you visit, why not mention you found this venue on New York Art Beat?

  • Facebook

    All content on this site is © their respective owner(s).
    New York Art Beat (2008) - About - Contact - Privacy - Terms of Use