The National Museum of the American Indian Smithsonian Institution: The establishment of a national museum

Changes have been taking place within the museum community in response to a new focus toward public programming and "client-centered" museums. The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) can be considered a model of this new focus with a mandate to form a collaboration with the Native American community in planning the new museum. Such a collaboration has rarely worked before. Methods used for gathering information for this study included conducting interviews with key staff members of NMAI, attending consultation planning meetings, and using information obtained from museum documents. The findings of the study show that the museum is creating a venue for different perspectives of Native American cultures, and attempting to re-educate the general public. The development of NMAI will change the way museums are structured, the planning process for programs, the way museums view their collections, and will re-evaluate constituencies and audiences.