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Nation To Nation Analysis

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Nation to Nation The Nation to Nation exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. was focused on the treaties between the Europeans and Native Americans. The exhibits talked about how those treaties are a part of what helped the U.S expand their territory. In addition, the exhibit explored the different Native tribes and their varying cultures. Native American history was shaped by the meaning of civilization and who was civilized, how this affected the relationships between Natives and Europeans and the assimilation programs targeting Native American children. Many of the conflicts between Native Americans and Europeans were due in part to a difference in what is means to be civilized. Because the Native Americans were living differently than the Europeans, they were deemed "uncivilized' and taken advantage of. However, the Native Americans had most of the essential parts of a civilization. For example, Natives had a form of religion as well as arts and architecture such as longhouses and feather headdresses, a …show more content…

The exhibits showed many pictures, graphs and artifacts which made the information it was providing easily accessible for many age groups and learning abilities. In addition, there were many quotes from people who were important figures in the historical events that occurred. However, the downside of having many pictures is that sometimes the displays would rely solely on the pictures and artifacts to tell the story which would leave some details out and make the exhibits too brief. Another thing that was a recurring issue was the overall lack of organization in the museum. The exhibits only went in chronological order some of the time and could become very confusing. Overall, the museum does a good job showing that Native American culture and history is still here despite many attempts to wipe it

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