This exhibition starts from the days of contact between Native Americans and European explorers through the struggles of independence to the Gilded Age.

Four galleries showcase the major cultural, scientific, and political figures of the 20th century. 

The Lunder Conservation Center provides a unique opportunity to view conservators at work.

On view are portraits made by renowned American sculptor Jo Davidson between 1908 and 1946.

Prints by Robert Taylor depict World War II.

The permanent collection of the Renwick Gallery features contemporary American crafts in glass, ceramics, metal, wood, and fiber.

The Octagon Room is furnished with paintings from SAAM's collection, including impressionism and the Gilded Age period.

This prairie-dog-themed playground, designed for children ages 2-6, reveals a prairie-dog's perspective on survival.

On view are limited-edition works on paper created by American artists -- including Sean Scully, Janet Fish, Wolf Kahn, and Elizabeth Catlett -- for the Art Collectors Program, which began in the early 1970's.

Featured areas include the Children's Room, The Commons, and Schermer Hall.

Two large cases contain approximately 80 one-of-a-kind posy holders made of precious metals and semi-precious stones, donated by Frances Jones Poetker.

This exhibition surveys the history of America's military from the Colonial Era to the present conflict in Iraq.

Some 160 large space and missile artifacts and 500 smaller space history artifacts are on view to illustrate the scope of space exploration history. 

This exhibition showcases the extraordinary range of South Asian and Himalayan art.

By recalling the natural landscape environment that existed prior to European contact, the museum's landscape design embodies a theme that runs central to the museum: returning to a Native place.

See the Tsimshian Totem Pole by David Boxley and Sacred Rain Arrow by Allan Houser.

These permanent displays feature more than 3,500 items from the museum's collection that reveal the remarkable breadth and diversity of Native American objects.

Focusing on Native cosmology and organized around one solar year, this exhibition explores the annual ceremonies of Native peoples as a window on their ancestral teachings.

This exhibition discusses events that shaped the lives and outlook of Native peoples from 1491 to the present.

This exhibition examines the identities of Native peoples in the 21st century, and how those identities -- both individual and communal -- are the results of deliberate, often difficult choices made in challenging circumstances.