The director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian discusses the museum's mission to interpret Native American cultures from the perspectives of Native peoples; nontraditional uses of an associated cultural resources facility; the relationship between Native world views and universal values; and programmatic impact on Native…

Traces the historical relationship between Native Americans and cultural institutions such as museums through three stages: objectification of native peoples themselves as cultural artifacts, interpretation of native cultures on the basis of Eurocentric standards and from the viewpoint of the "vanishing native," and development of…