George Gustav Heye Center - The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian is a fascinating building located in the Bowling Green neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. It is close to Battery Park which offers elegant water views. You can see ferries floating towards Staten Island, since the South Ferry Terminal is nearby. It allows you to appreciate the city's hidden gems located on the outskirts of Manhattan. One of these treasures is the previously mentioned museum. The American Indian Museum is located directly across from Bowling Green Park with a water fountain in the center. From the park view you can see the facade of the museum. It features stone steps with statues on the sides. Entering the museum via the grand stairs took me to the entrance protected by security equipped with metal detectors. Among the various museums I've already visited in New York, this was the first time I went through metal detectors, maybe because the museum is free and open to the public? From this point on, there is a digital interactive guide that displays the layout of the museum and location of the exhibits. The museum is divided into quadrants with an elliptical rotunda in the middle. The rotunda is illuminated by natural light coming from the glass dome with skylights above you. Additionally, when you look up, you can see an extraordinary symbolic painting on the ceiling. From the center of the rotunda, you can go left or right to view the Native American exhibits. For some reason I wanted to enter from the left, aside from the fact that the right side was closed for renovation. I headed left toward the “Time Exposure” exhibit in the Haudenosaunee Discovery Room. Upon entering the exhibit it may seem a little disoriented, but you just...... middle of paper ...... because of outside forces such as other settlers e.g. the Navajos , the new settlers as well as the Spanish conquerors. entered their world. As a result, the Pueblo Indians were taxed by these outside forces, including through military power that completely changed their ways; having before them the minimal cultural practices of their ancestors. The museum can seem very limited to what is on display, mainly because the entire building is not in use. However, the few exhibits they have are important to spark interest or even begin to understand Native American cultures. releases/exhibition-smithsonian-documents-impact-railroads-native-southwesthttp://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/482769/Pueblo-Indianshttp://www.bigorrin.org/pueblo_kids.htm