Grand Opening of the
National Museum of the American Indian

The U.S. Capitol is seen through the backdrop of the stage at the First Americans Festival at the National Mall, a day after the opening of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian, located at the foot of the Capitol, September 22, 2004. (AP/WWP Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Music, dance and storytelling have helped tens of thousands of visitors to the First Americans Festival in Washington learn about the proud traditions and cultures of the first peoples of the Americas.

The September 21-26 festival coincided with the September 21 opening of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), the newest museum of the Smithsonian Institution.

The museum opened with a colorful procession of an estimated 17,000 American Indians from nearly 500 Indian tribes and nations, most dressed in ceremonial regalia, from the Smithsonian Castle, the Smithsonian oldest building, to the NMAI. Complete text