Too often people think Manhattan began with the Dutch settlers 400 years ago and it’s rarely acknowledged there was a whole civilization here before us.
So it was fitting that at the southern tip of Manhattan, former home of the Lenape Indians, the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) announced the commencement (“starting tomorrow,” museum director Kevin Grover reminded his staff) of its imagiNATIONS Activity Center.
Over the next year and a half, 4,500 square feet of office space is being turned into an educational and exhibition space demonstrating the influence and impact of Native innovations on our everyday lives.
When it opens in the spring of 2018, the Activity Center, built in consultation with Native experts in STEAM-based education, will highlight eight distinct areas of focus: science, medicine, mathematics, engineering, physics, architecture, nutrition and innovation.
A 15 foot Yup’ik kayak frame that demonstrates the craftsmanship of the kayak maker and a 26-foot long Inka grass-rope bridge will be among the key visual and tactile objects for the expected 40,000 kindergarten through high school students who are expected to visit the center each year to learn about the Native peoples’ approach to innovation, creative problem solving and sustainability.
The total projected budget is $9 million, a combination of federal, city, state and private funds. The National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center-a division of the Smithsonian-is located at One Bowling Green. For additional information, including hours and directions, visit AmericanIndian.SI.edu.