Bringing the Outside In

One of the themes of the space is the environment. People -- regardless of where they live -- use the materials that surround them to meet their needs. Throughout the space we're trying to show visitors that Native peoples have ingeniously used their environments to devise inventive solutions, many of which are with us today.

In addition, we really want to focus more on science and the environment, Mother Earth being a key topic. We are also fortunate that the space has an incredible block of windows that runs the entire length, looking out on the beautiful natural landscape of the museum, the National Mall, and the U.S. Capitol. It's pretty stunning, and we try to take advantage of all of it.

Towards the front, we have two components that relate to the environment -- particularly our landscape. Companion gardening -- the idea of planting crops in groups that are not only a nutritious diet but that are symbiotic in their growth -- is coming early next year. Last month we installed the wetlands component, which highlights birds and plants that you can see in our wetlands and in wetlands of this region. It's actually one of the pieces that we designed for very young children, knowing that families come in all shapes and sizes, so we needed both simplicity and complexity to bracket the 7 to 12 target age group.


Sound tubes, flip panels, and collections objects, all in a stunningly illustrated mural. When the space is quiet -- before or after the museum opens -- I can actually hear the red-tailed hawk no matter where I am in the space.


Red-tailed hawks are really beautiful. We've had a resident hawk around the museum for a while now, and it's spectacular to see him from time to time.

The other piece was an attempt to bring the outside in, as I like to call it. I think I've stolen the phrase from my colleagues at the State Library of Queensland. We don't have a leaf-patterned carpet, but have built two model trees in the space that surrounds the gardening and wetlands activities, which looks out over the hardwood forest of our landscape.


These are really cool! A white oak and a long-leaf pine. Sadly, among the bad behavior we have already witnessed (this is the collective staff 'we') was a child climbing one of these trees. Seriously.


Finally, a view along the windows, toward the center's entry. Gardening goes in that slot behind (really, in front) of wetlands, near the oak tree.



So what remains? We're finishing phase two installation now: the rest of the basket activity, adobe house, stilt house, skateboard, tipi, art room, and story room, as well as fixing the iglu. Phase three installation starts in January. That will include the kayak activity, passport stations, music room, memory game (which, along with passports, hopefully will teach a bit about sovereignty), and graphics and other final details. It's absolutely amazing how much work this has been. The good news: my colleagues from exhibitions say that this has been so much more complicated than any other project they have done. So those 60 hour weeks are, I hope, all in the past.