Visitors were welcomed to this year's festival program by representatives from the Smithsonian, the Department of Interior, and the National Park Service.
The opening blessing was led by Halena Kapuni-Reynolds (Kanaka 'Ōiwi/Native Hawaiian), followed by remarks from Sabrina Lynn Motley, Director, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Cynthia Chavez Lamar (San Felipe Pueblo/Hopi/Tewa/Navajo), Director, National Museum of the American Indian, Kevin Gover (Pawnee), Under Secretary for Museums and Culture, Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian, Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), Secretary of the Interior, Clifford Murphy, Director, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and Charles F. “Chuck” Sams III (Cayuse and Walla Walla), Director, National Park Service.
Performances by Zotigh Singers, Nadia Larcher (Diaguita Calchaquí) and Sara Curruchich (Maya Kaqchikel), and Sons of Membertou (Mi’kmaq).
"Indigenous Voices of the Americas" honors the twentieth anniversary of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, and celebrates Indigenous creative expression across the Western Hemisphere. It features more than 250 participants representing 60 Indigenous nations in ten countries. The Festival is co-presented by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, the National Museum of the American Indian, and the National Park Service.
This program was recorded on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 in the Rasmuson Theater of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.
For more information on the Festival, visit festival.si.edu.
For more information on the museum, visit AmericanIndian.si.edu.