Native Americans have long struggled to battle Hollywood stereotypes, correct the distorted “official” histories found in textbooks and museums and present their stories on their own terms.
It is not surprising that a group of Native American scholars and activists is gearing up for an effort to rewrite their history to clarify the true scale of their historical oppression. The struggle to correct the record is happening at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). Since its 2004 opening, the NMAI has been a source of pride as a prominent national exhibit dedicated to the preservation and study of Native American culture but one that critics say inadequately represents the persecution of Native Americans.
The NMAI is the newest of 19 museums and nine research centers that make up the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum complex and research organization.
The Native American activists, attorneys and scholars involved in the creation of the NMAI intended it to be a place where American Indians would have everything they needed to tell their true story. The NMAI offered its director, curators and historians unprecedented levels of institutional clout and intellectual freedom and access to a world-class collection of Native American artifacts.
