Blog

Fundraising helps the Museum of Indigenous People care for its collections, support Indigenous artists, expand educational programs, and prepare for a new Welcome Center. Learn how donations, memberships, volunteering, and planned gifts benefit the museum and the communities it serves.

A 2,000-year-old tattooing tool discovered in Utah reveals a long history of Indigenous body art in the American Southwest. Explore archaeological discoveries, traditional facial tattoos, and the continuing cultural importance of Indigenous tattooing.

For generations, Native people appeared in movies while others controlled the camera. Blackhorse Lowe is among the Indigenous filmmakers changing who gets to tell those stories.

Native and Indigenous artists have worked in film since its earliest years, often within stories controlled by others. Today, Native actors, writers, directors, producers, and film festivals are changing who tells these stories and how communities appear on screen.

Familiar places across Arizona and the Four Corners carry Diné names too. A sign at the Museum of Indigenous People offers another way to know the landscape and the people whose language continues to describe it.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day has particular meaning at MIP. Explore the history of the observance, the museum’s Smoki past, the 1990 Hopi protest, and the relationships helping shape the museum today.

Tsidil is a traditional Diné stick game connected to Changing Woman, the natural world and the Diné journey into the Fourth World. Educator Renae K. Walters uses the knowledge carried by the game to help students understand place value, rounding, addition and subtraction.

Since Ryneldi Becenti became the WNBA’s first Native American player in 1997, Native women have continued to establish important firsts across the league.

A photograph by Jesse L. Nusbaum preserved the faces of a Jemez Pueblo woman and child, but not their names. Their image opens a larger conversation about photography, Indigenous representation, and what the historical record chose to remember.

September is Suicide Prevention Month. Learn about suicide rates affecting Indigenous communities, the importance of connection and hope, and Native-focused support resources in Arizona and nationwide.