Natural harmony: the new National Museum of the American Indian is a proud expression of Native American beliefs.(From the Secretary)

When W. Richard West jr. was appointed founding director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in 1990, he was put in charge of a great collection and a vision. During the next 14 years, Rick West gradually set the contours of the vision in stone, so that the collection-some 800,000 artifacts gathered largely in the early decades of the 20th century by the American businessman George Gustav Heye-might be displayed as befits its remarkable distinction. NMAI now has three buildings. The Heye Center opened in the U.S. Custom House in Lower Manhattan in 1994. The Cultural Resources Center, a study and collections facility just outside Washington, was completed in 1998. And the third and most striking-on a 4.25-acre site between the U.S. Capitol and the National Air and Space Museum-will be dedicated in September. The new museum will forever alter and immeasurably enlarge the world's sense of the native peoples of the Americas.

The Smithsonian buildings lining the National Mall are unlikely to be mistaken for anything but museums. But museums of what exactly? The exteriors-all but one-are mum about their purpose. The exception is the new National Museum of the American Indian, a monumental structure unlike any of its neighbors. The architecture and setting, informed by Native American beliefs about the need for harmony between the built environment and the natural world, invite visitors to read the building's intention as they approach. The museum is oriented due east, and its undulant limestone walls appear to have been carved by the elements; flowing water and rocks and plants embellish the landscape. Inside and out, the building is a spectacular public gesture of cultural homage.

No one deserves more credit for NMAI's successful evolution than Rick West. Man and mission were ideally suited. Rick was raised in Oklahoma and is a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma and a chief of the Southern Cheyenne. ...