The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian is getting its first ever Native female director: Cynthia Chavez Lamar (San Felipe Pueblo).
Chavez Lamar will oversee the museum’s three facilities: the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., the museum’s George Gustav Heye Center in Manhattan, and the Cultural Resources Center in Maryland, which houses the museum’s collections and its repatriation offices.
Chavez Lamar has worn many hats at the museum, beginning as a museum intern in 1994 and later serving as an associate curator. Since early 2021 she has served as the acting associate director for collections and operations. She succeeds former director Kevin Gover (Pawnee), who moved to Smithsonian’s Under Secretary for Museums and Culture in Jan. 2021 and was temporarily replaced by Machel Monenerkit.
She also previously served tenures working as the director of the Indian Arts Research Center at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from 2007 to 2014, and as the director of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico from 2006 to 2007.
“I am excited to begin my tenure as the director of the National Museum of the American Indian,” Chavez Lamar said in a statement today. “I am looking forward to leading and working with the museum’s experienced and dedicated staff. Together, we will leverage the museum’s reputation to support shared initiatives with partners in the U.S. and around the world to amplify Indigenous knowledge and perspectives all in the interest of further informing the American public and international audiences of the beauty, tenacity and richness of Indigenous cultures, arts and histories.”
The new director’s educational background includes a bachelor’s degree from Colorado College in studio art, a master’s degree in American Indian studies from UCLA and a doctorate in American studies from the University of New Mexico.
She also sits on the advisory group for Indigenous North America at the Princeton University Art Museum, and she is a member of the advisory board at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, where she holds an honorary doctorate for her museum work.
More Stories Like This
Indigenous Journalists Association President Addresses Members of the UNPFIIInter-Tribal Council Passes Resolution Urging FCC to Establish Specific Event Code for Missing and Endangered Persons
Native News Weekly (April 21 2024): D.C. Briefs
Q+A: Journalist Connie Walker Reflects on Season 3 of 'Stolen' Podcast Investigating Navajo Nation MMIP Cases
Native Bidaské with Sarah Eagle Heart (Oglála Lakota) on the Indigenous Fashion Collective
Native Perspective. Native Voices. Native News.
We launched Native News Online because the mainstream media often overlooks news that is important is Native people. We believe that everyone in Indian Country deserves equal access to news and commentary pertaining to them, their relatives and their communities. That's why the story you’ve just finished was free — and we want to keep it that way, for all readers. We hope you'll consider making a donation to support our efforts so that we can continue publishing more stories that make a difference to Native people, whether they live on or off the reservation. Your donation will help us keep producing quality journalism and elevating Indigenous voices. Any contribution of any amount — big or small — gives us a better, stronger future and allows us to remain a force for change. Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous-centered journalism. Thank you.
