New Smithsonian Exhibit Coming to Missouri’s American Indian Culture Center

JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri’s American Indian Cultural Center at Annie and Abel Van Meter State Park is proud to host Patriot Nations: Native Americans in Our Nation’s Armed Forces Nov. 20 to Dec. 27. 

This traveling exhibition is from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and brought to Missouri by the Missouri Humanities Council. 

Patriot Nations explores the ways in which Native men and women have served America’s Armed Forces in every major military encounter from the Revolutionary War to today’s conflicts in the Middle East. Visitors to the Patriot Nations exhibit will learn how Native American service men and women served to protect and defend the United States, through a series of engaging and historic photographs and narrative.

Patriot Nations: Native Americans in Our Nation’s Armed Forces was produced by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. The exhibition was made possible by the generous support of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.

Exhibit dates: Nov. 21 – Dec. 27, 2019; special exhibit hours, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday; noon to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; noon to 4 p.m. Sunday; closed on Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. 

Location: Missouri’s American Indian Cultural Center at Annie and Abel Van Meter State Park, 32146 N Hwy 122, in Miami.  Contact: 660-886-7537

Events running concurrently with this temporary exhibition include:

Grand opening: Wednesday, Nov. 20, 6 to 8 p.m., the new exhibition will be on view for the public. Refreshments will be provided.

Movie night, Way of the Warrior: Saturday, Dec. 7 at 6 p.m., this hour-long movie will be shown at Missouri’s American Indian Cultural Center. Refreshments will be available for purchase.

Guest speaker, Lindsey Kaye Manshack: Saturday, Dec. 14 at 6 p.m., Lindsey Kaye Manshack will present “Then and Now: American Indian Representation in Missouri,” at Missouri’s American Indian Cultural Center.

Guest speaker, Greg Olsen: Saturday, Dec. 21, at 6 p.m., Greg Olsen will present a story about “Great Walker: Ioway Leader” at Missouri’s American Indian Cultural Center.

Annie and Abel Van Meter State Park is located 12 miles north of Marshall on Hwy 122. For more information about the event, call the park at 660-886-7537 or visit mohumanities.org/patriot-nations.