The Museums, as Promised

1. The Museum of the American Indian, on the Mall, is perhaps a little different from anticipated. It has basically three permanent exhibits, as I understand it, and one special exhibit, which appears to be there indefinitely. It has nice yellow stone architecture that is unrelated to anything else on the Mall, and an extraordinary amount of empty space, particularly in the center of the musuem which looks up to a large white dome. It has two stores and a very nice cafe.

The two top floor exhibits are on the history of the American Indian (this includes natives of the entire continent, not just U.S. territory), and on American Indian spirituality. to accompany the myth (?) that we are all one people, while the displays in the exhiibits are by tribe, the tribes are mixed up, so you may go from Mexico to Alaska to New York State to Guatamala. A little disconcerting.

The history exhibit, which does contain a lot of material, is basically a holocaust exhibit. A big holocaust exhibit. "We lived here and were happy. They came. They killed most of us and then kicked us out. Now they live there". Every story is basically the same. And, while it teaches a valuable lesson, it is not what you call uplifting and my reaction was "get me out of here."

The exhibit on spirituality, set up similarly to the history exhibit and quite attractive, left me cold. I just did not know what anything was talking about. Without context the stories and myths and beliefs are just floating around like leaves in autumn.

On the second floor, there are also two exhibits. The exhibit on Indians today is like: "See Indians farm. See Indians practice medicine. See Indians teach." You get the picture. And they sure did not concentrate on the casinos. Or on Jack Abramoff, for that matter. The final exhibit was on the Indians of the Northwest, and it was the best of all, but by then I was tired of Indian museums.

The first floor shop is "better jewelry and textiles" and the second floor is souvenirs and books. Nothing I need.

The cafe has five stations - each representing a different Indian cuisine. Northwest, meso-America, the Great Plains, the Southwest and another. We had salmon, a squash/raisin cold side dish, stewed tomatoes and chestnut pudding. I don't care for chestnut pudding, so cannot vouch for the quality.

2. The Hokusai exhibit at the Sackler is a two floor exhibit that shows prints, books and paintings chronologically through his very long career. A major exhibit worth looking at.

3. The Museum of American History rarely gets a visit from me, but it did a week or so ago. A quick one, entering from the Constitution Avenue vestibule, and not going very far. I walked through an exhibit (noted to be good for all ages) of the history of American science, and I thought that it was a very good exhibit, in that it told a number of stories, and did not overwhelm you with too many items on display (take note, Indian museum).

Starting with a debate between two German/American (like so many scientists) 19th century Johns Hopkins scientists on whether scientific research should be pure, or should help support the public weal, you are quickly led through exhibits on James Murie of Hampton Institute, part Pawnee Indian and the growth of American ethnography; Charles Frederick Chandler and sanitation in New York in light of increasing immigration, Ellen Swallow Richards, the first woman to attend (and teach at) MIT; Harry Washington Wiley, who at the Department of Agriculture, developed standards of food safety; The Scopes monkey trial; Gilbert chemistry sets; the development of nylon at DuPont, after gunpowder did not seem enough to sustain the company; science at the 1939 NY world's fair; the development of Oak Ridge as a federal laboratory; penicillin; the MIT radiation lab and Vannever Bush; B.F. Skinner's unsuccessful attempt to train pigeons to be spies during the early years of WW II; the development of rocketry for military and other purposes; the Manhattan project; Hiroshima and Nagasaki; geodetic mapping; atomic toys and fallout shelters; modern kitchen equipment and garden tools; the Pill; Rachel Carson and the environment; genetic engineering; the super collider to help understand the basic building blocks of nature; ozone and CFCs; and the future.

Even the listing is interesting.

4. As a lucky strike extra, let it be known that I did not get to see the King Tut exhibit in Ft. Lauderdale. The museum opens every morning at 8, and closes late. Demand for tickets is great. Same day tickets not available.