[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 116 (Thursday, September 23, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S9601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

  Mr. REID. Madam President, I rise today to recognize the grand 
opening of the National Museum of the American Indian. The museum has 
been two decades in the making, and it can now take its place as our 
only national museum dedicated to the history and culture of the 
indigenous peoples of the Americans.
  More than 50,000 people visited the Mall this week for the dedication 
ceremonies. Twenty thousand Native Americans, representing hundreds of 
tribes from around the country, have come to Washington to celebrate 
the Museum's opening. The enthusiasm of so many people for the Museum 
is a fitting testament to the hard work and dedication of the many 
individuals who helped realize this project.
  I would like to take a moment to recognize two of those individuals, 
my colleagues Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Senator Daniel 
Inouye. Their commitment to this endeavor over the last two decades is 
truly commendable. Their work has resulted in one of the Nation's 
premier cultural institutions, a museum that will provide the 
opportunity for millions of Americans to learn about the history and 
culture of Native Americans.
  The museum also represents one of the most ambitious architectural 
endeavors ever undertaken by the Smithsonian Institution. Its design is 
certainly pleasing to behold, but it is intended to do far more than 
that. The museum's landscape features a diverse array of environments--
wetlands, an upland hardwood forest, meadowlands, and traditional 
crops--that recall the vast and varied environs that Native Americans 
have inhabited. This will help visitors connect with the experience of 
Native Americans, by highlighting their reverence for their natural 
environment and their belief that all of us, as human beings, are but 
parts of a larger living universe.
  Native Americans have made unique and enduring contributions to my 
home State of Nevada. One of those individuals is Sarah Winnemucca. The 
first native women to publish a personal history, she embarked on a 
nationwide lecture series in 1879 to teach people about Native American 
culture and the difficult life her people experienced on reservations. 
An artist is now creating a statue of her, and when finished it will 
become Nevada's second memorial in the Capitol's National Statuary Hall 
Collection.
  Sarah Winnemucca was a Paiute, thousands of whom continue to live in 
Nevada to this day. The Paiute along with the Shoshone, Washoe, and all 
of Nevada's native peoples have made unique contributions to our 
heritage and history.
  I am pleased that those contributions and those of all Native 
Americans will now be honored in the heart of our Nation's Capital in 
the National Museum of the American Indian.

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