[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24108]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




COMMEMORATING THE OPENING OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 18, 2004

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the 
opening of the National Museum of the American Indian. Detailing the 
lives, beliefs, histories, and stories of thousands of years of Native 
American life in North America, this museum catalogs the important and 
unique contribution of Native Americans to the cultural legacy of the 
United States.
  It is fitting that the National Museum of the American Indian is 
located on the National Mall at the footsteps of the Capitol Building. 
We are all reminded that, except for the people this museum celebrates, 
we are immigrants to this land. We have all come to this country from 
different corners of the world: some from Europe, some from Asia, 
others from Africa, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and 
the Pacific Islands. In a way, all of us are guests to this continent, 
and the American Indian Museum reminds us that we have a responsibility 
to care not only for our country but for the land we live on, the 
oceans we are surrounded by, and, most especially, the native peoples 
who were here first.
  We forgot sometimes what life was like before we immigrants came 
here. Our land was not always called the United States, and the people 
here were not always called Americans. The nations that made up the 
Native American spectrum had different cultures and different 
histories, but often shared similar beliefs, such as the power of the 
relationship between humans and nature, the wisdom of ancestors, and 
the particular order of the universe.
  Mr. Speaker, the National Museum of the American Indian reminds us of 
the important legacy of the Native American community as 
representatives of our nation's history, the destructive and the 
creative ideas that built our country. We are privileged to have access 
to this invaluable collection of artifacts from a history that once was 
and memories from a present that is still very much alive. Once again, 
I celebrate the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian, 
and I encourage all Americans to visit this museum to better understand 
the history of our nation and those who came before it.

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