Washington ? Tourists may soon wonder about a sudden rock formation at the end of the National Mall neighboring the U.S. Capitol. The “rock structure” is not a creation by Mother Nature, but a man-made look-alike that will house the National Museum of the American Indian.

The museum, a five-story, 260,000-square-foot building of Kasota limestone, will house an array of exhibitions and demonstrations celebrating the culture and philosophies of the first Americans, said Thomas Sweeney, a Citizen Potawatomi Nation Indian of Oklahoma and public affairs director for the museum.

Construction of the new Smithsonian museum began in 1999, and plans call for completion by Sept. 21, 2004, the first day of fall.

When completed, visitors will find elaborate landscaping, “grandfather” rocks from Canada, a network of flowing water and a marsh area with ducks. The building design includes circles representing a tribal philosophy of the “circle of life,” Sweeney said.

“It incorporates this belief — the sun, moon and earth,” he said. “We’ve emphasized so much of the outdoors as well. We wanted to create a ‘visitor experience’ — the storytelling really begins before you get inside.”

Four floors of intricate designs and thoughtful color schemes provide an effective display of America’s oldest culture, Sweeney added. The museum will include Indian designs and carpentry, such as “wampum,” a type of shell from the Northwest Wampum tribe to be incorporated in wall designs, and “ads cedar,” a wood design of a series of dents created by an ax, for walls.

Along with incorporating symbolic shapes to the building, its location also is representative to the American Indian culture as the first Americans.

“We’re the last museum to be built on the National Mall, but it’s the first lot on the Mall,” Sweeney said. “It’s some sign that the first Americans have the first location.”

When Congress passed legislation for the museum 10 years ago, a standard “request for proposal” was sent out to architecture firms across the nation, said Duane Blue Spruce, facilities planning coordinator and native Laguna in San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico.

“People were encouraged to include native participation as they formed their (design) teams,” Blue Spruce said. “We didn’t ask for designs. Firms were just asked to submit proposals on how they were going to design the building.”

He said from there, the Smithsonian Institution narrowed the selection of finalists and conducted interviews before deciding on Philadelphia-based GBQC Architects.

Museums of this stature do not come cheap, said Elizabeth Duggal, director of external affairs, explaining the price tag of $199 million for construction alone.

“Funding was split in two ways — federal and private sectors,” Duggal said. “$119 million came from government funds, and the other $80 million coming from private sectors such as donations and fund-raisers or native tribes.”

She said the fact that $30 million came from native tribes shows the tremendous support the museum has received from tribes that feel it is important to be represented in the nation’s capital.

“This is a tremendous success story, with support from middle America to wealthy tribe leaders,” Duggal said. “It’s refreshing to see this much support.”