photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

The Watkins Museum of History is pictured Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.

The Watkins Museum of History announced Tuesday it will host a traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution about American Indians’ impact on American culture later this year, with other events related to the exhibition taking place at Haskell as well.

The Watkins will serve as the inaugural host venue for the exhibition, titled “Americans,” which explores how deeply intertwined American Indians are in the history, pop culture and identity of the United States. The free exhibition will be shown on the museum’s first floor Community Room from Aug. 23 to Oct. 5, according to a news release.

The exhibit was initially supposed to debut at the Haskell Cultural Center and Museum at Haskell Indian Nations University, but after “unfortunate federal cuts,” the groups decided to shift the exhibit to the Watkins Museum at 1047 Massachusetts St. The release said the Watkins would partner with the Haskell Cultural Center on a companion exhibit called “A Question of Representation,” and events related to the exhibition will still take place at Haskell’s campus.

Eric Anderson, a Haskell Indian Nations University professor, said in the release that the exhibit prompts visitors to “reflect on the ways in which Native images and iconography have been used and often misunderstood in popular imagery,” and it explores “both the fascination with and disconnection to the reality of Native peoples” found throughout American history.

Some of the companion exhibits will feature photographs of Indigenous peoples of Franklin County, Kansas, and provide more information about the Sacred Red Rock project to repatriate In’zhúje’waxóbe to the Kaw people.

Watkins Museum Executive Director Steve Nowak in the release called the “Americans” exhibit a “rare opportunity for the Watkins Museum and for Lawrence to participate in a nationwide project which will enhance understanding of our region’s Indigenous roots.”

The tour of the exhibit to Kansas comes from a partnership between Humanities Kansas and the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program. Julie Mulvihill, the Executive Director of Humanities Kansas, said in the release the exhibit “provides an opportunity for Kansans to tell their stories alongside a dynamic national exhibition from the Smithsonian.”