National Museum of the American Indian
Congress built this museum after the Smithsonian was found to have warehoused up to 18,000 Native American human remains, mostly in storage.
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The only Smithsonian museum on the National Mall devoted entirely to Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Its founding Act — Public Law 101-185, passed 1989 — described it as "a living memorial to Native Americans and their traditions" and required the Smithsonian to consider repatriating human remains, sacred objects, and cultural patrimony. Over 5,000 individual remains have since been returned to tribal communities, about one-third of what the Smithsonian held.
What to look for
- The legal mandate at the museum's core: Public Law 101-185 and the repatriation requirement that preceded the building's existence
- The repatriation tally — 5,000+ individual remains returned since 1989, roughly one-third of the Smithsonian's estimated total holdings
- Collections tracing back to New York's Museum of the American Indian, established 1916, which became part of the Smithsonian in 1989
Fourth Street and Independence Avenue SW on the National Mall; opened September 21, 2004; part of the Smithsonian Institution.
National Museum of the American Indian is one of 37 sights worth the detour in Washington, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Washington pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Washington
- White HouseBritish forces torched it in 1814. It has been the U.S. president's home and office ever since.
- The PentagonDesigned and built in 16 months during World War II — 17.5 miles of corridors, a five-acre central courtyard, and a 9/11 memorial at the exact point of impact.
- United States CapitolEvery street address in Washington DC radiates outward from this building — it is literally the zero point of the city.
- Washington MonumentThe faint color seam partway up the shaft marks where construction stopped for 23 years.
- Smithsonian InstitutionBritish scientist James Smithson left a bequest that became 157 million objects, 21 museums, and a zoo — almost all free to walk into.
- Arlington National CemeteryThe ground holding 400,000 graves was seized from Robert E. Lee's own family over an unpaid tax bill in 1864.