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Salina is one of seven Kansas communities to host the Americans Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition in 2025 and 2026. Based on an exhibition of the same name that is currently on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and curated by Paul Chaat Smith (Comanche) and Cécile R. Ganteaume, Americans explores the ways American Indian images, names and stories have been part of the nation’s identity since before the country began.
The Americans exhibition features photographs, hands-on interactives, objects, and videos that invite visitors to explore this history and representation of Native Americans in American culture. Humanities Kansas presents the Americans tour in partnership with the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street program.
See the Americans Smithsonian Exhibition at Seven Kansas Locations in 2025 and 2026:
Lawrence
August 23 – October 5, 2025
Cultural Center and Museum, Haskell Indian Nations University
Highland
October 11 – November 16, 2025
Iowa and Sac and Fox Mission Museum
Wichita
November 22, 2025 – January 4, 2026Mid-America All-Indian Museum
Mayetta
January 10 – February 22, 2026
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
Salina
February 28 – April 5, 2026
Smoky Hill Museum
Liberal
April 11 – May 24, 2026
Seward County Community College
Bonner Springs
May 30 – July 5, 2026
Wyandotte County Historical Museum
Join the Movement of Ideas! Learn more about the Americans Smithsonian exhibition and follow HK on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news and updates.
A diverse and multifaceted cultural and educational enterprise, the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is an active and visible component of the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum complex. The NMAI cares for one of the world's most expansive collections of Native artifacts, including objects, photographs, archives, and media covering the entire Western Hemisphere, from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego.
The National Museum of the American Indian operates three facilities. The museum on the National Mall in Washington, DC, offers exhibition galleries and spaces for performances, lectures and symposia, research, and education. The George Gustav Heye Center (GGHC) in New York City houses exhibitions, research, educational activities, and performing arts programs. The Cultural Resources Center (CRC) in Suitland, Maryland, houses the museum's collections as well as the conservation, repatriation, and digital imaging programs, and research facilities. The NMAI's off-site outreach efforts, often referred to as the "fourth museum," include websites, traveling exhibitions, and community programs.
Since the passage of its enabling legislation in 1989 (amended in 1996), the NMAI has been steadfastly committed to bringing Native voices to what the museum writes and presents, whether on-site at one of the three NMAI venues, through the museum's publications, or via the Internet. The NMAI is also dedicated to acting as a resource for the hemisphere's Native communities and to serving the greater public as an honest and thoughtful conduit to Native cultures—present and past—in all their richness, depth, and diversity.