Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian Live Events

Violin virtuoso and vocalist Quetzal Guerrero masterfully mixes up a hip hop and Latin jazz concoction. Guerrero's music, much like his American/Mexican/Brazilian heritage, bridges many Latin and American cultures and styles.

This performance was webcast from the Potomac Atrium of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC on July 20, 2013.

Performing in the Living Earth Festival Indian Summer Showcase, pop artist She King from Six Nations Reserve captivates listeners with her power, passion, and seductive vocals.

This performance was webcast from the Potomac Atrium of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC on July 20, 2013.

Halau Ho'omau I Ka Wai Ola O Hawai'i is a halau, or Native Hawaiian cultural school, serving the Washington, DC area. The halau treats Living Earth Festival goers to a performance of Hawaiian music and dance.

This performance was webcast from the Potomac Atrium of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC on July 20, 2013.

The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians Drum and Dance Troupe come to us from Dowagiac, MI. Enjoy this group as they demonstrate traditional and contemporary dancing offered at many powwows throughout the United States. Pokagon youth perform traditional drumming and singing to accompany the dances and the public is welcomed to join in on a couple of them.

This performance was webcast from the Potomac Atrium of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC on July 20, 2013.

Headlining the Living Earth Festival's Indian Summer Showcase concert, Ozomatli, the celebrated band from Los Angeles, is a two-time Grammy award-winning group. Their music is an urban-Latin-and-beyond collision of hip-hop and salsa, dancehall and cumbia, samba and funk, merengue and comparsa, and then some.

This concert was webcast from the Potomac Atrium of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC on July 20, 2013. Due to technical problems with the recorded video, only the last portion of the performance is offered here.

Native Americans have served in the U.S. military since the American Revolution, and by percentage serve more than any other ethnic group in the armed forces. Join us to learn about their heroic and unforgettable stories during a special program hosted by noted historian Herman J. Viola, curator emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution.

The program features a panel of American Indians who have served our country in the armed forces, including Debra Kay Mooney (Choctaw), an Iraq War veteran who organized and hosted a powwow in a war zone in Iraq in 2004; Chuck Boers (Lipan Apache/Cherokee), an Iraq War veteran and the recipient of two Bronze Star and three Purple Heart medals; John Emhoolah (Kiowa), a Korean War Veteran who joined the Oklahoma Thunderbird Division when he was still in high school and later helped lobby for the passage of the Native American Religious Freedom Act; and Joseph Medicine Crow, a World War II veteran who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 by President Barack Obama.

Since the first court decision to articulate Native American law back in 1823, our nation’s courts have repeatedly invoked historical "facts" as a basis for fashioning judicial doctrines that have been prejudicial and harmful to Native Americans. This important symposium reveals that many of our modern Native law doctrines are based in fiction, not fact. Join us as we explore the historical foundations of key court decisions impacting Native Americans. Speakers include Stuart Banner, UCLA School of Law; Walter Echo-Hawk (Pawnee), Crowe "&" Dunlevy, Oklahoma; Mary Kathryn Nagle (Cherokee), Quinn Emanuel Urquhart "&" Sullivan, New York; and Lindsay Robertson, University of Oklahoma College of Law. Moderated by Kevin Gover (Pawnee), director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the symposium is cosponsored by the National Native American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association Indian Law Section.

Since the first court decision to articulate Native American law back in 1823, our nation’s courts have repeatedly invoked historical "facts" as a basis for fashioning judicial doctrines that have been prejudicial and harmful to Native Americans. This important symposium reveals that many of our modern Native law doctrines are based in fiction, not fact. Join us as we explore the historical foundations of key court decisions impacting Native Americans. Speakers include Stuart Banner, UCLA School of Law; Walter Echo-Hawk (Pawnee), Crowe "&" Dunlevy, Oklahoma; Mary Kathryn Nagle (Cherokee), Quinn Emanuel Urquhart "&" Sullivan, New York; and Lindsay Robertson, University of Oklahoma College of Law. Moderated by Kevin Gover (Pawnee), director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the symposium is cosponsored by the National Native American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association Indian Law Section.

Unlike other ethnic minorities in the United States, American Indians are defined not solely by self-designation but by federal, state, and tribal laws. Blood quantum—originating from archaic notions of biological race and still codified in contemporary policy—remains one of the most important factors in determining tribal citizenship, access to services, and community recognition. This concept, however, is not without debate and contestation. This symposium features Native scholars who approach this important and complex topic from various perspectives. Sociologists Eva Marie Garroutte (Boston College) and C. Matthew Snipp (Stanford) join historian Malinda Lowery (UNC Chapel Hill) and anthropologist Kimberly TallBear (UC Berkeley) in a discussion moderated by museum historian Gabrielle Tayac. Presented on September 16, 2011.

Unlike other ethnic minorities in the United States, American Indians are defined not solely by self-designation but by federal, state, and tribal laws. Blood quantum—originating from archaic notions of biological race and still codified in contemporary policy—remains one of the most important factors in determining tribal citizenship, access to services, and community recognition. This concept, however, is not without debate and contestation. This symposium features Native scholars who approach this important and complex topic from various perspectives. Sociologists Eva Marie Garroutte (Boston College) and C. Matthew Snipp (Stanford) join historian Malinda Lowery (UNC Chapel Hill) and anthropologist Kimberly TallBear (UC Berkeley) in a discussion moderated by museum historian Gabrielle Tayac. Presented on September 16, 2011.