Lucy Fowler-Williams, Associate Curator of American Collections at The Penn Museum says, "what we're trying to do is have people learn more and to understand that native communities are thriving today in many ways and to teach them something new and to gain a sort of fresh understanding.
The exhibition showcases the diversity of Indian tribes and tells the meaning behind sacred places and traditional celebrations.
Fowler-Williams says, "one of the key issues for native people is often times they are represented as the romanticized Indian you might think nationally of a native warrior on horseback with a feather."
Morning Star President Suzan Harjo wants visitors to come away with one idea, "that we are still here, we are still living, breathing people in the modern era, that we're not just the past."
The exhibition features interactive touch screens, allowing visitors to essentially meet Native Americans via video and dig deeper on issues facing the community, like the importance of language.
"Because so many are speaking English and they are trying to renew and strengthen their understanding and knowledge of their own languages and to pass that on to the younger generations," explains Fowler-Williams. Native American Voices: The People - Here and Now runs through January 2015.
You can go to www.Penn.museum for tickets.
