Bring the whole family to National Museum of the American Indian to enjoy games, hands-on activities, storytelling, and music that celebrate and investigate Indigenous glass art in the Clearly Indigenous exhibition. Free, Saturday, May 16, 11 AM–4 PM. Check out the full schedule of activities.
11 AM, 1 PM, and 3 PM | Performances by Swil Kanim
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- Storyteller Swil Kanim (Lummi) will perform, sharing stories from the Pacific Northwest Coast. Throughout the day, catch Swil Kanim playing the violin.
- 12:15 PM, 2:15 PM | Look, Learn, Create: Clearly Indigenous for Families
- Join museum educator for a family-friendly interactive tour of the exhibition Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass. Visitors will look closely at three to four artworks and learn about them through guided discussion and shared observation. After finding inspiration from the artworks, families are invited to the imagiNATIONS Activity Center classroom to create their own inspired Glyph Charm artwork to take home.
- Ongoing | Hands On Activities: Mock Stained Glass and more
- Visitors are invited to find inspiration through the featured artworks in Clearly Indigenous to create their own designs in mock stained glass, etching and stencils, as well as button-making and bag designs.
- Ongoing | Glass Working Demonstrations by Esteban Salazar
- Local Brooklyn-based glass blower Esteban Salazar will demonstrate glass working techniques such as torch work on glass rods as well as the “sugar blowing” method, employing melted candy as a stand-in for molten glass throughout the day.
Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass was originated by the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, New Mexico, where it was curated by Dr. Letitia Chambers and Cathy Short (Potawatomi). The traveling exhibit was curated by Dr. Chambers and is toured by International Arts & Artists. Generous support for the exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian provided in part by Janet and David Offensend. This program is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
This program is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Contemporary Indigenous artists Preston Singletary (Tlingit), Dan Friday (Lummi), and Jody Naranjo (Kha’p’o Owingeh [Santa Clara Pueblo]) share how they use the medium of glass to express Indigenous stories, designs, and contemporary issues. Visitors can see the artists’ work in the exhibition Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass which traces 45 years of Native glass art and showcases approximately 120 artworks by 29 Indigenous artists.
Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass was originated by the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, New Mexico, where it was curated by Dr. Letitia Chambers and Cathy Short (Potawatomi). The traveling exhibit was curated by Dr. Chambers and is toured by International Arts & Artists. Generous support provided by Janet and David Offensend.
Image: Dan Friday, Aunt Fran’s Star Basket, 2017, Hand-blown glass veil canes, 14” x 16” x 14”.Image courtesy of Dan Friday, Photograph by Russell Johnson, © Dan Friday.
Native Sounds Downtown with Elisapie
Friday, July 11, 8 PM
Bring your friends and family for a fun concert featuring Inuit artist Elisapie, who will be performing live in French, English, and her beloved mother tongue, Inuktitut at the National Museum of the American Indian. With unconditional love for her Inuit homeland, culture is entrenched in her work as storyteller, singer-songwriter, actor, and director. Elisapie was born and raised in Salluit, a small village in Nunavik, in northern Quebec, Canada.
Elisapie earned a Juno Award in the Contemporary Indigenous Artist of the Year category, as well as five awards at the 2024 ADISQ Gala. Her album Inuktitut, which covers ten classic rock and pop songs from a wide array of artists including Metallica, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Cyndi Lauper and more, all performed in the Inuktitut language, was nominated at the 2025 Juno Award for Best Album of the year and was awarded Best Adult Alternative Album of the year. An acclaimed documentarian, Elisapie is the creator of Le grand solstice, a musical and cultural celebration televised annually to mark National Indigenous Peoples Day. In 2024, the Canada Post recognized Elisapie with a Permanent™ stamp in their Indigenous Leaders series which honors the outstanding achievements and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders.
