Happening in May at the NY National Museum of the American Indian

 Native New York Film Festival

Friday, May 5
6:30 – 8 pm

Saturday, May 6 and Sunday, May 7
1:00 – 5:00 pm

One Bowling Green, Lower Manhattan

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian presents the Native New York Film Festival, in conjunction with the Native New York exhibition. This year’s celebration spotlights filmmakers, new films, fan favorites, and filmmaker discussions reflecting on what makes New York a Native place.

Event Schedule

Friday, May 5

6:30 pm–8:00 pm

Little Caughnawaga: To Brooklyn and Back (Canada, 2008, 57 min.)

Preceded by Rotinonhsión:ni Ironworkers (Canada, 2020, 6 min.)

A discussion with Reaghan Tarbell (Mohawk), director of Little Caughnawaga: To Brooklyn and Back, to follow.

Saturday, May 6

1:00–3:00 pm

Made in New York: Retrospective Shorts Program

A discussion with Terry Jones (Seneca), director of Soup for My Brother, to follow.

3:00 pm–5:00 pm

Keepers of the Game (United States, 2016, 82 min.)

Sunday, May 7

1:00 pm–3:00 pm

Native New York Shorts Program

A discussion with Terry Jones (Seneca), director of Savage/Future, and Jeremy Dennis (Shinnecock), director of Ma’s House, to follow.

3:00 pm–5:00 pm

Conscience Point (United States, 2019, 74 min.)

Full schedule at AmericanIndian.si.edu/calendar.

The Native New York Film Festival is part of the museum’s Native Cinema Showcase. Special support provided by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

Native New York Children’s Festival

Saturday, May 13 and Sunday, May 14,

11:00 am–5:00 pm

One Bowling Green

Th Children’s Festival returns to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian highlighting the exhibition Native New York. Hands-on activities include corn husk dollmaking with cornstalk fibers. Participants can learn how to do traditional Tuscarora beadwork, listen to Haudenosaunee stories, and learn about lacrosse. Visitors can test their balancing skills by walking across a beam like a Mohawk Iron Worker, and dance with the Boys and Girls Club of Shinnecock Nation. 

Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch

Opening May 27

One Bowling Green

Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch celebrates more than a half century of Shelley Niro’s paintings, photographs, mixed-media works, and films. Accessible, humorous, and peppered with references to popular culture, Niro’s art delves into the timeless cultural knowledge and generational histories of her Six Nations Kanyen’kehá:ka (Six Nations Reserve, Bay of Quinte Mohawk, Turtle Clan) community to provide purpose and healing.

Organized and circulated by the Art Gallery of Hamilton with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and with curatorial support from the National Gallery of Canada. Major support for the project is provided by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Terra Foundation for American Art, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative Pool. This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.