Network Library Services Home
Network Documents Home
Focus Home
On September 28, 1999, the Smithsonian Institution, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, and representatives of many Native American tribes wearing traditional regalia broke ground for the main building of the National Museum of the American Indian. The museum is scheduled to open in 2002. It will be located in Washington, DC on the National Mall at Third Street SW and Independence Avenue between the National Air and Space Museum and the United States Botanic Garden. According to W. Richard West Jr., director of the museum, the museum's goal will be to "show and tell the world who and what we really are and to use our own voices in the telling." The museum complex will consist of three facilities: the George Gustav Heye Center which opened in 1994 in New York City and houses current exhibits; the Cultural Resources Center which opened in 1998 in Suitland Maryland; and the $110 million museum now being built on the National Mall. The Cultural Resources Center is the storage facility and study center for the 800,000 artifacts that make up the core collection.
The American Indian College Fund has received a $30-million grant to replace buildings at thirty tribal colleges located on reservations in the west and midwest. This grant from Lilly Endowment is the beginning of a five-year campaign to raise a total of $120 million to make capital improvements at tribal colleges. These funds will pay for construction of modern classrooms, laboratories, and libraries. The colleges receive operating funds from the federal government but not from the states. The thirty colleges have an enrollment of 26,000 students on campuses in twelve states. Most are two-year institutions and provide instruction in traditional academics with a Native American cultural emphasis.
The complete collection of the Tribal College: Journal of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (TCJ) has been added to the Ethnic NewsWatch database. TCJ, which began in 1969, covers important issues relevant to the education and future of Native American communities. Ethnic NewsWatch has more than twenty-five Native American journals in its database, including: the Cherokee Advocate, which is the oldest American Indian newspaper in the United States; Navajo Times; and the Seminole Tribune. These periodicals are available by subscription from Ethnic NewsWatch, c/o Softline Information, Inc., 20 Summer Street, Stamford, CT 06901, 800-524-7922; web site: www.slinfo.com/enwnews2.htm
Oyate Ta Olowan: The Songs of the People is an educational series of audiocassettes of contemporary Native American music and stories from twenty-six different tribes recorded on location. These tapes are taken from the landmark public radio documentary series with the same name. Resource booklets containing information about each artist and his/her tribe is also included. Information about the series and cost is available from the producer/distributer Lee Productions, Inc., 3907 Minneekahta Drive, Rapid City, SD 57702, 1-800-486-8940; web site: www.oyate.com
The Benton Foundation, which promotes public interest values and noncommercial services, has published Native Networking: Telecommunications and Information Technology in Indian Country, a report edited by Jean Smith, 1999. This report includes information on funding and assistance from federal, private, and corporate resources, current projects, types of Native-owned businesses, basic facts about telecommunications, governmental regulations, and a glossary of telecommunications terms. It is available in print for $12.50 from the Benton Foundation, 1634 Eye Street NE, 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20006, 1-877-223-6866, or online in PDF format at www.benton.org/Library/Native/
The Labriola National American Indian Data Center at the Hayden Library, Arizona State University, Tempe, collects videos, oral history tapes, and related multimedia resources dealing with Native North American tribes in Alaska, Canada, and the United States. The collection includes current and historic information on tribal government, religion and world view, social life and customs, tribal history, and biographical information on thousands of individuals. The Center also publishes a quarterly newsletter, Labriola National American Indian Data Center Newsletter, available in print. For more information, contact its web site: www.asu.edu/lib/archives/labriola.htm
Reminder: November is National American Indian Heritage month.
Updated December 24, 2002
