"The National Museum of the American Indian on the Mall in Washington, D.C., is the first of its kind in America. Board members promised that this museum will continue to change and grow - it will get even better, they said.

I was in the nation's capital as part of an assignment with Knight Ridder's Washington bureau, and a little nervous about covering this national story.

The museum's curvilinear shape and ochre shade made it a wildflower among the rest of the Smithsonian's stodgy buildings, I noticed as I stood near the entrance. Then, I nearly jumped back when I saw corn stalks waving gently alongside the structure. Vines of squash curled around the stalks, and tobacco plants provided an edging for this native garden. Donna House, who is Navajo/Oneida, is responsible for all those indigenous plants growing so joyfully in this land so foreign to them."

Get the Story:
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: New museum inspires as it graces nation's Mall (The Grand Forks Herald 9/28)

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