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National Museum of the American Indian Announces Family Activity Center

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian invites visitors to experience its newly opened imagiNATIONS Activity Center, which offers bilingual learning tools and hands-on activities highlighting the diversity, history, culture and contributions of tribes across the Western Hemisphere. Located on the third level and open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the imagiNATIONS Center is a sunny, 5,400-square-foot space lined with a wall of windows offering a stunning view of the Capitol and the National Mall. It features interactive games, storytelling programs and craft workshops throughout the year.

Native peoples have long used the natural environments around them to meet their needs, and many of their innovations are part of daily life for millions of people around the world today. Visitors can learn about some of these ingenious adaptations through a variety of hands-on activities and:

Explore traditional Native dwellings by wandering through an Amazonian stilt house, building an iglu, sitting inside a 16-foot-tall tipi or marveling at a life-size adobe house.

Compete against family and friends in an interactive quiz show that tests one’s knowledge of Native history, culture and customs.

Experience different modes of indigenous transportation and sport through kayaking, snowshoeing and skateboarding activities.

Weave a giant basket and learn about basket-weaving’s history, uses and variety of styles.
Appreciate the diversity and sovereignty of Indian Country through a passport program that uses official tribal seals from North, South and Central America.

Meet the “Three Sisters” in the museum’s Chickahominy gardening exercise and learn why tribes plant crops together.

For more information and program listings, visit www.AmericanIndian.si.edu.

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