Family Fun at Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian

Family Fun at Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian

Did you know that November is Native American Heritage Month? Celebrate Native American culture with your family all month long at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in NYC!

Be sure to mark your calendar for a visit on Saturday, November 18, 1pm to 3pm, when the museum is hosting a very special event, Mexico Now: The Present and Future of Ancestral Practices.

Visitors of all ages are invited to learn how Chef Diana Wangeman preserves ancestral Oaxacan food practices; then head to the Diker Pavilion for a performance by Maya rapper Pat Boy, who uses music to preserve the Mayan language and teach rap to youth in his rural community in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo.

Maize and Traditional Ingredients with Chef Diana Wangeman (1-2pm)

Diana Wangeman was born and raised in Oaxaca, Mexico, where she learned the traditional practice of processing corn from her mother,  chef and owner of the restaurant Tierra Antigua in Oaxaca. As the owner of the Brooklyn, NY, restaurant Sobre Masa, Wangeman works to raise awareness about ancient forms of maize cultivation and doing business in a responsible way.

Maya Hip-Hop with Pat Boy (2-3pm)

Jesús “Pat Boy” Chablé started his solo career in 2009 mixing genres such as reggae, pop, and reggaeton in the Yucatec Mayan language. His work was recently featured in the Marvel blockbuster film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. He is the co-founder and producer of ADN Maya Producciones, which nurtures young talent across the Yucatan Peninsula. He also produces the Ko’one’ex K’aay Rap Ich Máaya Festival and fosters Rap Ich Máaya T ìaan, a methodology he created for bilingual youth that promotes the Mayan language through rap improvisation and rhyming.

Visit the imagiNATIONS Activity Center

After the event, take the kids over to the imagiNATIONS Activity Center. This interactive, family-friendly center provides young visitors a lively space with a wide variety of learning experiences, introducing the scientific principles behind Indigenous innovations and technologies. The center is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10am to 4:30pm.

A diverse and multifaceted cultural and educational enterprise, the National Museum of the American Indian is an active and visible component of the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum complex. This museum cares for one of the world’s most expansive collections of Indigenous artifacts, including objects, photographs, archives, and media covering the entire Western Hemisphere, from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian is located in the historic Alexander Hamilton US Custom House at One Bowling Green in lower Manhattan, and is open daily, 10am to 5pm.

SPONSORED CONTENT BY THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

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