Smithsonian Interlude - What the two Museums of the American Indian Reveal about our Sense of Place

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During my NYC trip, I started thinking about the way that the National Museum of the American Indian tells its stories in these two cities. In many ways, it is one museum with two locations, but in many ways, one of the branches operates like a local museum, rather than a national one. This video explores the consequences of this kind of interpretation and this kind of thinking.

[@manhattason]

Hey, from NYC, Chloe. The visitation demographics of the two museums probably influence their respective interpretive approaches. Visitors to the museums on the National Mall hail from across the country and world, while visitation to the Heye Center is likely overwhelmingly from the NY tri-state area. It is a simple strategy of target audience relevance. Also, we're used to thinking of things in a national context here in DC and of the importance of our politics, while the rest of the country thinks of things quite regionally and locally. New Yorkers also tend to be a bit narcissistic as we are America's cultural and economic capital. If our first capital had remained our political capital, perhaps we'd be thinking of New York a bit differently in museums. If you get a chance, visit the Museum of the City of New York on Museum Mile, 5th Ave. It's an excellent museum.

[@chloeeastwood6696]

Right, well that's exactly what I'm talking about. Why bother branding it as a national museum if their approach is going to be local?