Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Pueblo Portraits: 50 Years at Laguna Pueblo

See 40 black-and-white photographs that chronicle photographer Lee Marmon's diverse 50-year career.

September 15, 1999 – January 9, 1900

American Indian Museum New York

Traditional Iroquois Clothing

See intricate bead and ribbon work that decorates these modern items of clothing created by Sheila Smith (Oneida).

November 7, 1990 – March 10, 1991

American Indian Museum New York

Indians As Children See Them

Discover 51 works by New York schoolchildren who offer vivid interpretations of Native American cultures in the Fourth Annual Juried Native American Art & Essay Exhibition.

March 19, 1991 – June 2, 1991

American Indian Museum New York

Dancing Traditions: Plains Dolls

View 10 dolls including female and male doll dancers with original regalia by Charles Chief Eagle (Oglala Sioux).

March 13, 1991 – July 14, 1991

American Indian Museum New York

Hand-Woven Baskets and Raven's Tail Robe Sampler

See examples of Tlingit traditional weaving methods in examples by Sitka weaver Teri Rofkar, who learned from her grandmother, Eliza York, a Tlingit Indian from the Pelican area in Alaska.

July 17, 1991 – November 10, 1991

American Indian Museum New York

A Gift from the Heart: Two Pomo Artists

Explore over 80 exquisite baskets as well as ethnographic models of traditional ceremonial objects created by California Pomo artists William and Mary Benson.

June 21, 1990 – December 31, 1991

American Indian Museum New York

Beadwork: Cornhusk Dolls and Cradleboards

View the craft, design, and technique of making cornhusk dolls and cradleboards, featuring outstanding work by Tammy Rahr.

November 13, 1991 – March 15, 1992

American Indian Museum New York

Enjoy 51 works of children's art selected for the Fifth Annual Juried Native American Art & Essay Exhibition. The art works selected offer vivid interpretations of Native American cultures as depicted by New York school children ages 5 through 18.

February 19, 1992 – April 19, 1992

American Indian Museum New York

Weaving a Mayan Heritage: Clothing by Juana Cavanaugh

Discover traditional vestments handmade by Juana Cavanaugh, an Ixil Indian from Guatemala.

March 18, 1992 – September 14, 1992

American Indian Museum New York

Pathways of Tradition: Indian Insights into Indian Worlds

Visit a selection of 103 objects representing a cross-section of American Indian cultures from the museum's one million artifact collection.

November 15, 1992 – January 24, 1993

American Indian Museum New York

Indians As Children See Them

Observe 43 works by New York City school children who share their understanding of Native American cultures in this 6th annual juried exhibition.

March 9, 1993 – May 30, 1993

American Indian Museum New York

Four Native Voices: A Decade of Artistry

See musical instruments and art work by local Native American artists, and listen to the artists discuss their works.

January 1, 1993 – June 30, 1994

American Indian Museum New York

This Path We Travel: Celebrations of Contemporary Native American Creativity

Drawing on ancient and modern influences using sounds, objects, and videos, 15 contemporary Native American artists, writers, musicians and dancers make a collective statement about the continuity of the Indian American spirit.

October 30, 1994 – April 8, 1996

American Indian Museum New York

Partial Recall: Photographs of Native North Americans

Explore the relationship between photography and identity in this 2-part exhibition of historical photographs of Native peoples and contemporary works by Native American photographers.

May 19, 1996 – July 21, 1996

American Indian Museum New York

Ancestral Memories: A Tribute to Native American Survival

See 20 mixed-media works and photos by Native Americans that commemorate the life and work of Native Americans in history and celebrate American Indian history and culture across generations.

May 19, 1996 – July 21, 1996

American Indian Museum New York

Crossroads Alaska: Native Cultures of Alaska and Siberia

Miniatures and models illustrate the diversity and ingenuity of the cultures and peoples of the North Pacific.

June 27, 1996 – August 8, 1996

American Indian Museum New York

Woven by the Grandmothers: 19th-Century Navajo Textiles from the NMAI

See 40 19th-century Navajo textiles, woven between 1840 and 1880, including boldly patterned chief blankets, poncho sarapes, biil (traditional two-piece dresses), women's striped shoulder blankets, bordered mantas, and diyogi (loosely woven blankets).

October 6, 1996 – January 8, 1997

American Indian Museum New York

Contemporary Navajo Weaving: The Gloria F. Ross Collection of the Denver Art Museum

Explore modern weaving with 38 modern rugs and tapestries made by Navajo weavers in Arizona and New Mexico.

October 6, 1996 – January 8, 1997

American Indian Museum New York

Always Getting Ready: Upterrlainarluta: Yup'ik Eskimo Subsistence in Southwest Alaska

View photos by James Barker, from 1973-1992, that explore the annual subsistence cycle of the Yup'ik people from spring seal hunting to winter dance celebrations.

January 26, 1997 – June 8, 1997

American Indian Museum New York

Agayuliyararput (Our Way of Making Prayer): The Living Tradition of Yup'ik Masks

See 213 Yup'ik Eskimo masks from various international and private collections.

March 2, 1997 – August 17, 1997

American Indian Museum New York

To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions

See 40 quilts that demonstrate the cultural and economic significance of quiltmaking in tribal communities.

October 19, 1997 – January 4, 1998

American Indian Museum New York

Memory and Imagination: The Legacy of Maidu Indian Artist Frank Day

Explore the life, art, and legacy of Frank Day (1902-1976), a self-taught Native American painter from California who depicts Maidu customs.

February 15, 1998 – May 3, 1998

American Indian Museum New York

Indian Humor

Paintings, sculpture, photographs, textiles, and mixed-media by 38 artists focus on the depth and vitality of Native American humor.

May 31, 1998 – August 2, 1998

American Indian Museum New York

The Art of Being Kuna: Layers of Meaning Among the Kuna of Panama

See a 300-work exhibition focusing primarily on the "molas" (colorful, richly decorated applique blouses), for which the Kuna of Panama are world-renowned.

September 13, 1998 – March 21, 1999

American Indian Museum New York

Pomo Indian Basket Weavers: Their Baskets and the Art Market

Trace the history of art basketry and Pomoan participation in the 19th-c. California art market through 100 historical images and 110 baskets.

May 9, 1999 – August 15, 1999

American Indian Museum New York