Dec 6

Dec. 6
Since we did not get in till late last night, it was slow going this morning, but we got up and headed to DC, and the Native American Museum. Parking at the metro station was easy since it was Saturday, so we did not have to go through taking the bus.
I am more amazed at the beauty and layout of our nation’s capital. The museums architecture and building are unique.
The Indian museums building and landscape was beautiful. It was designed by Douglas Cardinal (Blackfoot) and a tem of Native architects and consultants. The building is aligned to the cardinal directions and center point of the capitol dome, “and is filled with symbols and forms that reflect the Native universe, including representations of nature, astronomy and objects from the collection.”, but we were disappointed in the contents. It seemed to us that at least 40% of the building was dedicated to shops and there were tables all around the entry with natives selling their wares. It was all too commercial. The exhibits that were there were beautiful. We especially enjoyed the Fritz Scholder: Indian/Not Indian exhibit. My friend Esther gave me a poster of his a year or so ago, so it was nice to learn more about the man.
There is a café’ in the lower lever of Indian foods from all over the Americas. We decided on a buffalo burger for lunch.
We walked around the mall and water pools and over to the Capital building itself. They were constructing bleachers for the inauguration.
PS. Franco Harris' helmet in the Smithsonian Castle.