With more than a hundred gorgeous photographs, National Geographic and Smithsonian combine their efforts to bring visitors a complete self-portrait of the new National Museum of the American Indian- documenting its history, vision, and architecture. The long-awaited National Museum of the American Indian will open on National mall in September 2004, attracting millions of visitors. In celebration of the exciting opening, National Geographic presents Spirit of Native Place, a combination of essays and photographs that profile the museum and tell the story of how it came to be. In essays by Native and non-Native writers alike, Spirit of Native Place chronicles the long process by which the museum came to fruition-beginning with the amassing by George Gustave Heye of a stunning and unprecedented collection of more than 800,000 Native American artifacts in he early 20th century, to the passing of legislation establishing the museum in 1989, to the design and construction of the new buildings. Essays discuss the architecture, interior design, collections, and facilities that make up the museum. Included are essays by W. Richard West, founding director of the museum and the design teams and builders. A beautiful keepsake for the millions of expected visitors to the museum, Spirit of Native Place will be the definitive volume chronicling the inspiration, hard work, and dedication that have created the Smithsonian's outstanding new Museum of the American Indian.