DC Exhibit: Listening to Our Ancestors

As you walk into the world of Native Americans living along the North Pacific Coast, you leave behind the modern world and enter into a mystical world where the boundaries between human beings and Nature are blurred. 

The exhibit showcases art and culture from eleven Native nations in Washington State, Canada and Alaska.  Native community representatives helped to select masks, household objects, woven robes and more to tell the stories of their ancestors and communities.

A brief introductory video provides an overview before you start the exhibit. As you walk through the exhibit, you will learn about oolichan fish, also known as “candle fish” because they are so rich in oil that if you light their tail they burn like a candle.  The Nisga’a people consider oolichan “savior fish” because they arrive in the Nass River when winter stocks of salmon and other foods are nearly depleted.

As you continue, you will see a projection of a full moon on the wall.  It feels like you are wandering through a dark, mysterious moonlit night. You will see ornately carved masks in the shape of different animals and learn about nax nok, a cosmic being who gave strength to deserving individuals.  They are usually revealed in dreams and through encounters with animals.  Spiritual dolls in the shape of owls are few of the spiritual objects associated with nax nok. 

Rattles and other musical instruments helped to attract spirits in healing ceremonies.  Illness was thought to be caused by the soul wandering from the body.  Besides instruments used in healing ceremonies, the exhibit also includes power objects used to draw the soul back into the body, and help restore physical and mental health.

As you go through the exhibit and see practical and spiritual objects and learn about how they were used, you will start to see the connections between the natural and spiritual world.  From physical to spiritual survival, Native American communities provide many lessons we can learn from to persevere in the modern world.

TIPS FOR VISITING NMAI
- The museum is located on the National Mall between the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum at Fourth St. & Independence Ave. SW near Federal Center and L’Enfant Plaza Metro stations.
- Try to arrive around 11 am, so you can beat the crowds.
- Take a look at the events schedule to see what films and performances are going on.  Try to catch the moving Thousand Roads film.
- See how crystal prisms catch the sun’s rays and reflect a spectacular light spectrum. This light “show” changes every day, and is at its height between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
- Try some delicious peanut soup, blue corn bread, tamales, pies and other tasty Native American delicacies in the Mitsitam Native Foods Café.
- Check out the permanent exhibits: Our Universes: Traditional Knowledge Shapes Our World, Our Peoples: Giving Voice to Our Histories & Our Lives: Contemporary Life and Identities.  
- Watch the ducks and relax near the waterfall.  The museum’s landscape design tries to reintroduce habitats indigenous to the Washington region, including hardwood forest, rivers, freshwater wetlands, croplands, and meadows. 
- Take photos of the beautiful architecture inside and outside the museum.  The museum’s exterior is made from Kasota dolomitic limestone from Minnesota.

Listening to Our Ancestors: The Art of Native Life Along the North Pacific Coast
National Museum of the American Indian
Exhibit End Date: January 2, 2007
Hours: 10:30 am to 5:30 pm

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