Americans Traveling Exhibit

The exhibition “Americans” is a traveling showcase from the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street and the National Museum of the American Indian. The exhibit delves into the significant influence of American Indians on the culture of the United States.

Despite constituting less than one percent of the population, American Indian imagery is prevalent in various aspects of American life. From commercial products and sports mascots to popular media and even military equipment like the Tomahawk missile, references to American Indians abound.

This widespread presence of American Indian imagery, names, and stories, while sometimes demeaning, highlights the deep and unexpected connections between Americans and American Indians. It sheds light on how American Indians have become deeply embedded in the history, pop culture, and identity of the United States.

Schedule

Exhibit Contents

The exhibition explores stories that highlight how deeply intertwined American Indians are in the culture of the United States and examines the complexity of those stories: The Invention of Thanksgiving: A video interview with the exhibition’s curator, Paul Chaat Smith, reveals surprising facts about Thanksgiving. What was the initial event really about? Why did Thanksgiving become such an iconic part of American culture? What prompted it to be celebrated so many years after the first Thanksgiving? What does Thanksgiving tell us about the relationships between American Indians and other Americans?

• Pocahontas: Queen of America: Pocahontas is an iconic figure in American history. An American Indian woman, prominent in the history of colonial Virginia, Pocahontas’ story has been retold many times, growing more romantic and fanciful with each retelling. But, how much of her story is myth and what do we really know? Many Americans love Pocahontas and have revered her for generations. Towns, streets, and schools are named after her. People seek to prove ancestral links to her. What does Pocahontas’ story tell us about how American Indians are viewed in American history?
• The Removal Act: To this day the Indian Removal Act of 1830 remains one of the boldest and most breathtaking laws in American history. It imagined a country free of American Indians and resulted in the forced relocation of thousands. Despite fierce debates over the act, Americans convinced themselves that removal would be good for the economy and even good for American Indians. What was supposed to be a relatively quick and manageable project spanned nine U.S. presidencies and cost more than 40 times the original estimate. In total about 68,000 American Indians were exiled from their southeastern homelands. In the early 1900s, a handful of Cherokee activists began to popularize the phrase “trail of tears.” It later became shorthand for policies toward all American Indians. The core meaning of the phrase still refers to a moment of national shame and a betrayal of American values. The Trail of Tears resonates in American conversation because the country is still coming to terms with what happened and its lasting impact.

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  The Indians Win: In 1876 the United States was finally emerging from the devastation of the Civil War. Manifest destiny was largely achieved. Indian conflicts still existed, but they were a distant problem. So, it was inconceivable, just days after celebrating the country’s 100th birthday, for Americans to learn that Indians in Montana had wiped out the famous general George A. Custer and 200 of his men. The entire country was in disbelief, grief, and rage. The Lakota and Northern Cheyenne had won the battle. But eight months later the United States won the Great Sioux War and confined nearly all the Plains Indians to reservations. However, Little Bighorn’s legacy lived on. It was replayed over and over through official hearings, staged presentations, elaborate reenactments, and later in movies and on TV. Why have Americans been obsessed with this one particular loss? Why did the Lakota Indians who won at Little Bighorn become celebrities? This fascination with Little Bighorn sheds light on Americans’ complicated relationships with and views of American Indians.

• Americans Explained: The images of American Indians that Americans see daily, and the examples presented in this exhibition offer a new way of understanding a few familiar events. Thanksgiving was a modern invention. Pocahontas was a key figure in the country’s founding. The Trail of Tears was a vast national project that reshaped the entire country. Little Bighorn was the moment when, after killing 200 American soldiers, American Indians became the country’s unofficial mascots. Together these stories offer an optimistic and provocative way to understand American history and the American present. Like the ubiquitous images of Indians, they give us the power to see into the country’s deepest foundations and remind us that American Indians are an integral part of American history, culture, and identity.

Americans was developed by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. The exhibition was adapted for travel by Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and state humanities councils across the country. Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress.