I found this museum to be beautiful with representation of modern and traditional Native American art. It’s great for families too. I think to get a good overview you can allow about 1.5 hours. They have a good cafe too.

We found the museum very interesting and there are some very good exhibits. Well worth a visit, plenty of space and facilities. It does touch on how the American native Indians were persecuted and their lands taken over, however more should be highlighted about the history of North America.

Being up front, I have been to a good number of Native American museums curated by a variety of bodies all across the United States, especially out west/southwest. While there are some good exhibits here, the presentation seems rather generic and antiseptic relative to the better ones out west. While everything superficially seemed nicely presented, I never got any of the vibe that moves me when studying our indigenous heritage in the home land of our indigenous peoples.

We visited the museum on Thursday, December 7th, between 2/2:30 pm to 3:30 pm ET—first-time visitors. PROS: The building is beautiful. The exhibits and information on the 4th floor are engaging, informative, and well-displayed. The staff member (a young woman) on the 3rd floor approached us, offering advice to review the exhibits. She was cheerful and friendly. CONS: Grumpy staff. We paused when we entered the building, trying to decide which direction to walk. The staff member (a woman) pointed and said "there." No smile. Abrupt. It did not set a positive tone. Except for the young woman on the 3rd floor and a man on the 1st floor, this was our consistent experience with staff. As we exited, my husband paused to order a Lyft (We are in our mid-70s). A female staff member came to the area and told us we had to come in or get out. Sigh. Customer service/hospitality is of the utmost importance to us, and what we experienced would cause me to pause when considering whether to return and affect my consideration of recommending the museum.

Was expecting much more about the different tribes lives and whereabouts. Instead, we found a full floor based on the Treaties signed by the US and the Indians which we know were useless as there was teary after teary after teary to basically take all land from the Indians. It is obvious that Indians could not live their life as it was in the last once the past once the civil actions and ambitions set pace but to cloud this but it’s also true that they were tricked continuously into signing useless treaties. At least let us concentrate into what’s important, THEM, and show our kids how the lives and what their values were.

The structure itself is amazing. There were many people but it was not crowded. The gift shop has items from tribes in America, Canada and South America reasonably priced, very attractive and in all price ranges. The current exhibit was based on the numerous treaties the American Government brought forth to the various tribes and then broke-- when it suited the Government which continuously wanted more land, removing tribes from native and sacred lands. Our group ranged from 14-80 and everyone learned something and felt the exhibits were meaningful and interesting.

We were very disappointed with our visit the the National Museum of American Indian. It seemed like a lot of wasted space and opportunities to discuss Native Americans. The treaties exhibit was dry but did have some interesting information about tribes that were local to our area. The exhibit on modern art was large and seemed to be sprawling and not a good use of the space. We were hoping to find a resource center or displays of Native Americans currently in the US.

This by far was my favorite. Learning more about my family's heritage was more than worth the trip. The exhibits are extraordinary and the stops to watch videos containing detailed background information was incredible. Left with a true appreciation and a lot more knowledge.

I'm sad to say that this was my least favorite museum of our week-long visit to Washington DC. There is some good art but the floor on treaties is depressing - lots of words and treaty after treaty broken. I was looking more for galleries and in depth displays and explanations about American Indian lifestyles and culture. I guess I was expecting something in the vein of the National Museum of African American History and Culture; I was disappointed.

A fantastic and unique museum. There’s no where else like this that I’ve seen. Yes, it is a difficult and upsetting history to absorb, but important and absolutely worth it. Some of the details and interpretations made me quite emotional. Would recommend this to everyone. It’s smaller than a lot of the other museums so you don’t need as much time to give it the attention it deserves as you do with the others which can take a whole day each. I did this in a few hours with some of the galleria in a lot of detail