The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indianin Washington D.C. announced last week that five new members have been admitted to its Board of Trustees for a three year term.
Two of the five are from Oklahoma tribes and in fact are their tribal leaders: Governor Bill Anoatubby of the Chickasaw Nation and Chief Gregory Pyle of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
Both men have served their tribes many years in many different capacities and been a part of the economic rise of these tribes. Kevin Gover, a member of the Pawnee Nation and Director of the NMAI says he looks “forward to working with the new group of board members” and that “they will be essential in helping to determine future directions taken by the museum.”
About the Museum Courtesy National Museum of the American Indian
A diverse and multifaceted cultural and educational enterprise, the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is an active and visible component of the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum complex. The NMAI cares for one of the world's most expansive collections of Native artifacts, including objects, photographs, archives, and media covering the entire Western Hemisphere, from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego.
The National Museum of the American Indian operates three facilities. The museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., offers exhibition galleries and spaces for performances, lectures and symposia, research, and education. The George Gustav Heye Center (GGHC) in New York City houses exhibitions, research, educational activities, and performing arts programs. The Cultural Resources Center (CRC) in Suitland, Maryland, houses the museum's collections as well as the conservation, repatriation, and digital imaging programs, and research facilities. The NMAI's off-site outreach efforts, often referred to as the "fourth museum," include websites, traveling exhibitions, and community programs.
Since the passage of its enabling legislation in 1989 (amended in 1996), the NMAI has been steadfastly committed to bringing Native voices to what the museum writes and presents, whether on-site at one of the three NMAI venues, through the museum's publications, or via the Internet. The NMAI is also dedicated to acting as a resource for the hemisphere's Native communities and to serving the greater public as an honest and thoughtful conduit to Native cultures—present and past—in all their richness, depth, and diversity.
