Bob Cross's Washington D.C. Trip (September 2004) »
The Story Follows (See Pictures Below)
In September, I was fortunate enough to attend the grand opening activities for the National Museum of the American Indian, in Washington D.C. I was there from September 19th through the 24th.
There was a variety of educational activities and events throughout the week for the Grand Opening. On Sunday, the Lummi tribe of Washington State presented 3 totem poles to the Pentagon in memory of the lives lost in the 9/11/02 attack on the Pentagon. It was a very impressive ceremony.
The museum officially opened on Tuesday, 9/21/04, with an incredible day of events. There was a Native Nations Procession (Grand Entry) with over 17,000 participants. There were of 70,000 Native Americans and about 100,000 other people in attendance.
The museum itself is awesome.
There is a Lakota showcase that my wife, Fedelia Cross, had helped to design and put together. It was excellent.
I spent a good deal of time at the storage facility and lab for the museum, which is located across the river in Maryland. I am working with the curator to develop a program for our high school students to work on projects at the museum. Out students would research, identify, photograph, and write descriptions of some of the many artifacts that the museum has in storage. The museum's next project is to put all of their items on the internet for anyone to view. This project would give some of our students the opportunity to go to Washington D.C. and to experience the museum and all that it has to offer culturally.
There were a lot of other events that I went to that week which all added up to a most excellent adventure.
Click on the individual pictures and a separate window will open up with a larger version of the picture. The pictures are high quality; please be patient if download times are long.
As Always »
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