museum recommendation

I took Mom and Steve to the National Museum of the American Indian. I liked the look of the building - it's fairly new, but it looks like rough stone that's been shaped by the elements for thousands of years. It's hard to believe that the DC area was once wetlands.

It's a huge building - four stories, spacious and well lit inside, though most of the light is coming from outside.

We were clever and decided to start at the top floor and work our way down. Each of the exhibit rooms has smaller circular sections packed with artifacts - clothes, pottery, blankets, headdresses, jewelry, art. Some rooms have TVs playing mini-documentaries on a continuous loop. It's almost sensory overload.

I've read that the museum received an overwhelming number of donations from tribes all across the country and down into South America. Conversely, the museum acquired pieces that tribes had lost years, and even centuries, ago, and amazingly, gave the pieces back to the tribes.

My favorite room had walls that were painted to look like clouds. In the center of the room, there was a low altar made of walking staffs, and stones and hats and feathers, all lying on a large red cloth. There were several flat-screen TVs on the walls, each showing images with narration. The voice of the narrator was hypnotic - he spoke clearly, but softly. He talked about Christianity, children, the weather, spirits, war.

We came out of the building a bit dazed and just in time for a quick downpour. I'll definitely go back.