Holland & Knight Attorneys and Clients Attend Grand Opening Events for the National Museum of the American Indian
October 4, 2004
After almost 15 years of planning, The
National Museum of the American Indian opened on September 21 amidst
celebrations of historic significance. Several Holland & Knight lawyers and
tribal clients participated in many of the events during the week-long festival,
including the Native Nations Procession in which thousands of native peoples,
dressed in tribal regalia, marched from the Smithsonian to the Capitol.
To view scenes from the procession, click on this link.
Native Nations Procession
The Grand Opening Ceremony took place on the National Mall where Senator Ben
Nighthorse Campbell (CO) and Senator Daniel K. Inouye (HI) addressed the crowd.
The week was filled with concerts, native food, dance performances,
storytelling, and arts and crafts demonstrations at seven different venues.
The five-story museum features a curved limestone façade and 100 foot-high
dome. The surrounding area is modeled after what historians think the D.C. area
looked like before Europeans arrived and is filled with hundreds of plants,
large rocks and a tumbling stream. The museum’s exhibits are designed to
introduce Native American culture to non-natives and to help natives celebrate
their culture.
Attorneys Shenan Atcitty, Philip Baker-Shenk, Deb Broken Rope, Holly Cook,
Lynn Cutler, Jerome Levine, Teri Poust, Mary Prevost, Allyson Saunders
and Gerry Sikorski attended many of the opening ceremony events.
Tribal leaders of the following Holland & Knight clients participated in the
ceremonies:
Big Sandy Rancheria
Central Council of Tlingit and
Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska
Consolidated Tribal Health
Consortium
Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo
Indians of California
Eastern Shoshone of Wind River
Ione Band of Miwok Indians
Jicarilla Apache Nation
Ketchikan Indian Community
Lower Lake Rancheria Koi Nation
Menominee Indian Tribe of
Wisconsin.
Mescalero Apache Tribe
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
Mohegan Tribe
Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians
Poarch Band of Creek Indians
Red Lake Band of Chippewa
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
Community
Shoshone Paiute of Duck Valley
Tohono O''odham Nation