Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian Live Events

Since the first court decision to articulate Native American law back in 1823, our nation’s courts have repeatedly invoked historical "facts" as a basis for fashioning judicial doctrines that have been prejudicial and harmful to Native Americans. This important symposium reveals that many of our modern Native law doctrines are based in fiction, not fact. Join us as we explore the historical foundations of key court decisions impacting Native Americans. Speakers include Stuart Banner, UCLA School of Law; Walter Echo-Hawk (Pawnee), Crowe "&" Dunlevy, Oklahoma; Mary Kathryn Nagle (Cherokee), Quinn Emanuel Urquhart "&" Sullivan, New York; and Lindsay Robertson, University of Oklahoma College of Law. Moderated by Kevin Gover (Pawnee), director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the symposium is cosponsored by the National Native American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association Indian Law Section.

Since the first court decision to articulate Native American law back in 1823, our nation’s courts have repeatedly invoked historical "facts" as a basis for fashioning judicial doctrines that have been prejudicial and harmful to Native Americans. This important symposium reveals that many of our modern Native law doctrines are based in fiction, not fact. Join us as we explore the historical foundations of key court decisions impacting Native Americans. Speakers include Stuart Banner, UCLA School of Law; Walter Echo-Hawk (Pawnee), Crowe "&" Dunlevy, Oklahoma; Mary Kathryn Nagle (Cherokee), Quinn Emanuel Urquhart "&" Sullivan, New York; and Lindsay Robertson, University of Oklahoma College of Law. Moderated by Kevin Gover (Pawnee), director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the symposium is cosponsored by the National Native American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association Indian Law Section.

Unlike other ethnic minorities in the United States, American Indians are defined not solely by self-designation but by federal, state, and tribal laws. Blood quantum—originating from archaic notions of biological race and still codified in contemporary policy—remains one of the most important factors in determining tribal citizenship, access to services, and community recognition. This concept, however, is not without debate and contestation. This symposium features Native scholars who approach this important and complex topic from various perspectives. Sociologists Eva Marie Garroutte (Boston College) and C. Matthew Snipp (Stanford) join historian Malinda Lowery (UNC Chapel Hill) and anthropologist Kimberly TallBear (UC Berkeley) in a discussion moderated by museum historian Gabrielle Tayac. Presented on September 16, 2011.

Unlike other ethnic minorities in the United States, American Indians are defined not solely by self-designation but by federal, state, and tribal laws. Blood quantum—originating from archaic notions of biological race and still codified in contemporary policy—remains one of the most important factors in determining tribal citizenship, access to services, and community recognition. This concept, however, is not without debate and contestation. This symposium features Native scholars who approach this important and complex topic from various perspectives. Sociologists Eva Marie Garroutte (Boston College) and C. Matthew Snipp (Stanford) join historian Malinda Lowery (UNC Chapel Hill) and anthropologist Kimberly TallBear (UC Berkeley) in a discussion moderated by museum historian Gabrielle Tayac. Presented on September 16, 2011.

Held on the occasion of the groundbreaking exhibition IndiVisible: African-Native American Lives in the Americas, this symposium aimed to bring visibility to African-Native American lives and initiate a healing dialogue on African-Native American experiences for people of all backgrounds. The program took place before a lively, standing-room-only audience on November 13, 2009, in the National Museum of the American Indian’s Rasmuson Theater in Washington, D.C. The scholarly forum expanded and enhanced the exhibition’s compelling themes of race and policy, creative resistance, blended communities, and African-Native lifeways. In illuminating the relationships between African Americans and Native Americans that developed over centuries, the symposium offered a vital new understanding of how these life experiences have become an essential part of our American identity.

Energizing performances of early and modern Blues performed or influenced by Native Americans featuring Corey Harris, at 0:00; The NMAI All Stars, at 43:40; and The George Leach Band, at 1:20:05. These performances were capture during the Native Blues Indian Summer Showcase at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian on Aug. 22, 2009.

Energizing performances of early and modern Blues performed or influenced by Native Americans featuring The Carolina Chocolate Drops, at 4:00; and The Rez Bluez All-Starz, at 58:00. These performances were capture during the Native Blues Indian Summer Showcase at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian on Aug. 22, 2009.

This special presentation, given in conjunction with the museum's The Power of Chocolate Festival, begins with a look at the mythology of chocolate, describing the unique relationship that people have had with this tropical treasure and the remarkable role it has played in human culture through time. Dr. Shapiro, Global Staff Officer for Plant Science and External Research at Mars, Incorporated, and Adjunct Professor, University of California-Davis, then discusses this amazing plant in the context of a really sustainable future. Dr. Shapiro identifies promising new terrain for cacao research and development.Recorded on February 12, 2011.