After my cousin came back to my uncle's house in the metro DC area for Thanksgiving, my uncle wanted all of us to go out and do something that day. Several ideas were tossed around, and any of them would have been great since I hadn't really done too many touristy stuff around here; I had spent most of my time applying for job vacancies almost every day. We decided to take the family to the Native American Museum, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution. This is a relatively new museum building along the National Mall, but the original collection of artifacts dates back to the early 1900s when George Gustav Heye, a wealthy New Yorker, gathered the items. The Smithsonian built the museum in collaboration of Native American communities across the Western Hemisphere in order to explain the daily and spiritual lives of the diverse group of people. There are different exhibitions about religious practices, attempts to preserve culture and identity, pre-Columbus history, and preservation of the environment. There was a video of an interview with a dancer who said that local Christian churches used loud speakers near their traditional dancing ceremonies to play contemporary Christian music so that the ceremony would have to stop. This example of Christian behavior disturbed me because it goes against the example of Christ. Christians should not disturb non-Christian ceremonies in order to evangelize. Christ did overturn the tables at the temple in order to disturb practices that turned God's temple into a den of thieves, but Christ was disturbing and criticizing his own religion, the religion that claimed to be following God. Christians should follow Christ, love as He loved, and sacrifice their lives to others in order to evangelize to non-Christians. There was another display that explained how smallpox from Europe help decimated the Native American populations before the Europeans colonized the continent; allegedly, 9 out of 10 Native Americans died due to the disease. I had never heard of this statistic before. After I mentioned it to my uncle, he said that the number was dubious at best; it is a speculation not based on any archeological or historical evidence. This choice of statistics reminded me how museums can often twist narratives and identities for various agendas. Overall, the museum was enjoyable and well-planned with easy-to-understand displays and several guides who were willing to explain the history or objects.
Exterior of the museum, built from Minnesota
Kasato Limestone. The curvilinear exterior
is supposed to add a natural, weathered effect.
The landscaping also portrays various natural
habitats including meadowlands and
hardwood forests to show the Native
American's connection to the land.
The Wilson family next to a boat
display in the main lobby.
Painting in the art exhibit.
View of the lobby from above.
The architecture was very cool.
Statue tucked away in the corner by the window.
After visiting the museum, we walked back
along the Mall towards the Capitol to eat dinner
at the Capitol City Brewing Company.
Previously, I mentioned going to Hops,
which is a restaurant/microbrewery.
Capitol City is similar, but I like their beer
and food better. I had the Amber Waves Ale,
but I tasted the Prohibition Porter and liked
it a lot more. The restaurant was an underground
bar during prohibition, which is kinda ironic because
it is almost literally in the Capitol's shadow.
At this angle the Capitol Building looks
much larger and more intimidating.
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