Onawa Lacy, Miss Indian World 2003, said the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian will help close the gap between Natives and non-Natives.
Lacy, a UNM senior, is flying to Washington, D.C., today to participate in the opening and dedication ceremonies. She will walk in a parade Tuesday with Miss Indian World 2004 Delana Smith.
"It's really important for me to be there, because it will be around for my grandchildren and for future generations to see," Lacy said.
The opening and dedication of the museum starts with a Native nations' procession Tuesday. About 11,000 people, including members from the UNM community, will be walking in the procession from the Smithsonian Castle leading up to the dedication ceremony on the National Mall at noon, according to the Web site.
The museum opens at 1 p.m.
A festival of music, dance, storytelling and a Native arts and crafts marketplace follows the opening and continues until Sunday.
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Beverly Singer, UNM professor of anthropology and Native American studies, produced the orientation film museum visitors can view in its theater space.
"It's a very fascinating and very short piece filled with imagery and voices of the people, their relationship to the land, and their histories as indigenous people of this continent," she said.
Singer said the museum is a wonderful opportunity for the world to hear a first-person perspective from indigenous people for the first time.
"It's an exciting time for Native people to have an institution to be self-representing about who we are and our place in world affairs and world history," she said.
Lacy said the museum showcases history people may not know about indigenous people.
"It's very important in helping people understand Native American history and how far we've come as Native people," she said. "It will help people understand our culture."
The museum will feature 800,000 pieces of art and artifacts from more than 1,000
indigenous cultures in the Western hemisphere.
The museum presents the Native perspective in all exhibits, galleries and programs, according to the Web site.
"We've endured a lot and have made amazing contributions to our society and world," Lacy said. "It will let people know we're strong and have beautiful culture and are beautiful people."
She said the museum is a learning tool that could dispel a lot of stereotypes.
The museum works with tribal communities to help Native people revive and sustain their cultural heritage, according to the Web site.
In the early 1990s, the museum conducted interviews with tribes in the Western hemisphere to form the design of the museum.
Lacy said pipestone was used in the original construction of the museum, but was taken out because women from the Lakota tribe cannot be in the presence of it, and the museum is supposed to be culturally sensitive
to all tribes.
Congress chartered the museum in 1989 as the 16th Smithsonian museum. It is the only national museum dedicated to the Native peoples of North, South and Central America, according to the Web site.
