SANTA FE, N.M. — Museums across the U.S. are displaying exhibitions to celebrate Native American contributions and heritage as part of the nation's 250th anniversary commemorations. These exhibits include artworks and historical artifacts that reflect the complex relationship between Native nations and the U.S.

The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., is displaying two dresses: a Lakota beaded dress likely created for a July Fourth celebration, and a modern jingle dress featuring a patch honoring Lori Piestewa. Piestewa, a member of the Hopi Tribe, died in 2003 from injuries sustained during an ambush in Iraq. Native Americans have some of the highest per-capita rates of military service in the U.S.

Danyelle Means, Executive Director of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture and a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, stated, "Veterans are a huge part of celebration and ceremony within Native communities and are often revered and have their own societies within these communities. So it is something — that aspect of the U.S. and being a warrior for this country — that is very deep-seated in so many Native communities."

The "Stars, Stripes and First Americans" exhibit at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in New Mexico includes a painting titled "Diné Code Talker" by Kee Yazzie. A weaving created following the September 11, 2001, attacks is also featured in the New Mexico exhibition. Navajo Code Talkers utilized their language to create a military code during World War II, and recruits from the Choctaw, Comanche, Kiowa, Hopi, Muscogee, Sioux, and Seminole tribes also served as code talkers in the U.S. military.

The Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College is displaying works by Native artists as part of its 250th-anniversary commemoration. Jami Powell, Curator of Indigenous art at Dartmouth College's Hood Museum of Art and a citizen of the Osage Nation, stated, "It is OK to have feelings of ambivalence around these issues and the difficult histories that led to this current moment." N. Bruce Duthu, Chair of Native American and Indigenous Studies at Dartmouth College and a member of the United Houma Nation, said, "The U.S. is routinely at the top of the heap in terms of a country that, despite all the flaws, at least now in the last 50 years or so, seems to have gotten it right."