This year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival started in the Rasmuson Theater at the National Museum of the American Indian, whose twentieth anniversary is the focus of the Indigenous Voices of the Americas program. Beginning with an opening blessing by Smithsonian curator Halena Kapuni-Reynolds in the Native Hawaiian language, the Welcome Ceremony continued with remarks from representatives of the institution, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
“Every day that we celebrate, every day that we dance and sing and pray, we strengthen the bonds that assimilation policies fought to break among Native people,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), the first Indigenous Cabinet secretary in U.S. history.
Later in the day, the museum hosted storytelling sessions, a musical performance from Smithsonian Folkways artists Sons of Membertou, and our first featured concert with Hālau o Kekuhi from Hawai‘i. Despite high temperatures, enthusiastic crowds gathered on the National Mall for artist demonstrations, music, and discussions with members of Indigenous communities across the Americas.
Check back here every day as we share favorite Festival moments, captured by our intrepid photo team.
Molly Szymanski is a media intern with the 2024 Folklife Festival. They are from Baltimore and currently live in College Park, Maryland. Elisa Hough is the editor and web content manager for the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
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