Located in Miwok Park which was a Coast Miwok village area, the Museum is devoted to Native American culture and is the only one of its kind in the Bay Area. The Museum also serves as an educational center to over 6,000 elementary children each year.
The mission of the Museum of the American Indian is to provide the people of Northern California with programs and exhibits that deepen understanding and appreciation of Native American cultures. The Museum promotes accuracy, sensitivity and respect for the heritage and history of our continent's earliest inhabitants.
The Museum engages diverse audiences in the exploration and preservation of the history, languages, art and traditions of Native Americans through the growth of its permanent collections, its exhibitions and the vitality and diversity of its educational programs.
The Museum involves the entire community by providing programs that are responsive to the interests of children and adults, including educators, collectors and schools.
The Museum of the American Indian operates as:
• A center of exhibitions, symposia, film, demonstrations, workshops and cultural celebrations.
• An educational resource for children’s cultural enrichment programs.
• A repository for artifacts, photographs, drawings and books.
• A forum for the objective examination of Native American cultures.
• An archive of information and data, available for inquiry and consultation.
The Museum creates dialogue within the community about Native American cultures by:
• Interpreting the history, art, traditions and life ways of Indian peoples.
• Giving voice to elders, artists, culture bearers, and others of Native American ancestry.
• Providing educators with curriculum guidance concerning Native American history
• Fostering awareness of the interdependency of culture and their environment.
The Museum’s goals are to:
• Make Native American cultures, past and present, come alive for all people.
• Build and maintain a facility with designated space for protection, preservation, display and interpretation of Native American artifacts and for educational programming and research.
