National Museum of the American Indian

Separated from Battery Park by State Street, the National Museum of the American Indian is at once beautiful and mysterious. Set inside an elegant Beaux-Arts building with marble columns and intricate detailing, it beckons you from afar, inviting you inside. But you're not sure the sign outside the building is correct…the building reminds you of Ancient Rome or perhaps the Italian Renaissance. But you enter anyway, curious to learn more about what this museum holds inside.

The museum was founded by an Act of Congress in 1989, and the New York location opened in 1994. Located on the first floor of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, the George Gustav Heye Center is one of three locations of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. The other locations — found in Suitland, Maryland and Washington DC — were opened in 1999 and 2004, respectively. Since its conception, the mission of the museum has been to advance "knowledge and understanding of the native cultures of the Western Hemisphere."

For an in-depth educational experience, expect to spend about four hours viewing all the museum's exhibits and galleries that border the building's center rotunda. While history is an important part of most exhibits, the museum continues to adapt and grow to support contemporary Native American life, literature, and art. Cultural events, such as dance and music performances, children's workshops and school programs, also occur throughout the year. The Film and Video Center, a part of the National Museum of the American Indian, hosts a biennial Native film festival and maintains a website of events and resources at www.nativenetworks.si.edu

- Callie Worsham