Rev. Dennis Kamakahi performs at the 2012 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Joann Stevens, of the American History Museum, is the program manager of Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM). She last wrote about Darius Brubeck.

With his quiet dignity and self-assurance, leadership becomes Slack Key guitarist Reverend Dennis Kamakahi. Whether leading a cultural renaissance in his home state or a day of recognition at the Smithsonian, the Grammy-award winning composer, recording artist and Episcopalian minister exudes a presence as solid and beautiful as the music he composes and performs. Kamakahi was a member of the folk music group “The Sons of Hawaii” from 1974 to 1992 and his music was featured in the award-winning 2011 George Clooney film, The Descendants.

Kamakahi’s achievements as an Hawaiian folk musician and cultural historian recently found a welcome spotlight as curators at the National Museum of American History accepted his 6-string guitar, albums, sheet music and personal photographs as part of the museum’s music and history collections, a first for a modern Hawaiian composer.

A representative from the office of Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI) read a message praising Kamakahi as “one of the finest musicians Hawaii has ever known.”

“Through your humility, grace and love for others,” she said, “you have positively influenced so many and have represented Hawaii with dignity.”

“This is an experience, to be alive at a time you can donate something and pique the curiosity of people,”  Kamakahi, told an audience of well wishers. He then used the donated guitar to play and sing songs with stories and melodies as exotic and mysterious as his state.

Kamakahi’s role as cultural ambassador is as much family mantle as professional choice.  His grandfather and father were guitarists. His father played trombone in the Hawaiian Royal Band and jazz with his mentor James “Trummy” Young, trombonist with the Louis Armstrong All Stars. Hawaiian culture dictated that the eldest grandchild ”be given” to the grandparent of the same gender to mentor as guardian of the cultural heritage.

At the donation ceremony at the American History Museum. Photo by Harold Dorwin

Music is in Kamakahi’s blood and his story is a fascinating one. His goal to become a classical music conductor was abandoned after a music theory teacher encouraged him to “to go back to your roots, to Hawaiian music.” In 1973, Eddie Kamae, ukelele virtuoso and co-founder of the Sons of Hawaii, invited the 19-year-old Kamakahi to join the group.

Now “we’re the last two left,” he says of the legendary band. “He’s the oldest.  I’m the baby. You are what your teachers are.”

That makes Kamakahi a cultural activist, who along with Kamae, ushered in Hawaii’s cultural renaissance of the 1970s, helping to lift stigmas that had repressed Hawaii’s indigenous music and traditions for decades. Slack Key guitar music, predating ukelele music, rose like a  Phoenix from cultural ashes.

Slack Key music history is steeped in the lore of the Vaqueros, Spanish and Mexican cowboys who developed cattle ranching as a business and culture in the American Southwest and West. Vaqueros were brought to Hawaii to tame an overpopulation of cattle and taught Hawaiians to become cowboys or Paniolos. They also brought guitars, trading tunes and songs around camp fires. When the Vaqueros left, the guitars remained, adopted by Paniolos who invented their own tuning—slack key—to  accommodate Hawaiian music.

“It was mostly tuned to the voice,” Kamakahi explains of the style. “The high falsetto style of singing emerged because of [the Paniolos].” Every tuning has a nickname. Families guarded tunings so closely they became family secrets. While the term Paniolo is used generically, today, to mean cowboy, it was originally reserved only for students of the Vaqueros, says Kamakahi.  It’s a ”high title” going back to those days. Descendants of the original Vaqueros still live on the Big Island of Hawaii. And Kamakahi’s songs herald their histories along with those of Hawaii’s culture, religions, landscape, heroes and traditions.

Detail from the donated guitar. Photo by Harold Dorwin

“I write for story telling,” he says of his music. Hula, considered only a dance form by most mainlanders, is actually a form of storytelling that presents Hawaiian music and narrative through motion. Koke’e, a Kamakahi tune that became a Hula  standard, was composed on the guitar donated to the Smithsonian.

“Original slack key music used maybe two chords,” he says. Two stories demonstrate the music’s influence and progression over the years.

Kamakahi counts the late legendary blues singer/composer Muddy Waters as a friend who used the Delta G  slack key tuning throughout his career. He used to ask me, ‘Why don’t I sound like you when I play?’  I told him it’s because you don’t live in Hawaii.”

The 2011 film The Descendants, starring George Clooney, became the first feature length movie offering a full slack key music score. Kamakahi’s tune Ulili E  performed with son David was featured in the film and in promotions. He said the power of the music and Clooney’s insistence on cultural authenticity won over the director after he and others invited them to a jam session at a local club.

“You can sing Hawaiian songs, but if you don’t know what you’re singing about (culturally) it’s not Hawaiian.”

While in DC he turned 60. Alumni and friends of the National Capital Region Chapter of the University of Hawai’i Alumni Association celebrated with a feast of Hula, food,  music, and fundraising to support student interns. Kamakahi says he’ll still perform but wants to focus on educating others in and outside of Hawaii about the region’s history, music and culture.

He marvels that Slack Key has loyal fans as far away as Russia, Finland, France and South Africa.  Exposure from The Descendants generated mail from around the world.  Yet he’s concerned about the music’s future in Hawaii.

“It’s a sad time for Hawaiian music. It’s an exported music now,” he says. “It used to be in Waikiki,” a staple of tourism where musicians like Don Ho developed careers playing music lounges. That changed in the 1980s when hotel general managers recruited from outside Hawaii cut costs by replacing live music with karaoke. “Musicians like me had to go to the mainland,” says Kamakahi.

His hopes for young Hawaiian musicians is that promoting the culture will support its survival and evolution.

“Most people in Hawaii don’t know what the Smithsonian is,” he says. But Kamakahi knows the recognition validates his artistry and his culture. “I hope the Smithsonian recognition will place focus on the music back home. This honor will outlast me because it’s not only for me. It’s for those who came before me and for those who come after me.

“I tell young musicians you need to travel the world so your music will affect others, and theirs yours. Music is a communicator. It breaks down barriers. Music is the universal language that brings us together.”

He explains with an anecdote.

“I was playing at the Vancouver Music Festival and played with a West African band whose rhythms,” rooted in the blues “we hear every day in Hawaii.  The bass player was in nirvana that we knew their rhythms.

“Rhythm is everywhere. Your heartbeat is the first rhythm you hear. The heartbeat is the first thing that connects you to life,” he says smiling broadly. “That’s why we’re all musical. We have a heartbeat.”

Hear from the Slack Key legend himself in an episode of the American History Museum’s podcast, History Explorer. 

In celebration of Bolivia’s culture, the American Indian Museum is holding a quinoa festival this week. Photo by edibleoffice, courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons

Tuesday, May 7: Time and Navigation

Sea captains once relied on chronometers to calculate where they were. Today, we use satellites, and anyone can tap the Global Positioning System’s satellite-borne clocks with their cell phone to figure out exactly where he or she is or how to get somewhere. Check out “Time and Navigation: the Untold Story of Getting from Here to There,” a new exhibit at the Air and Space Museum that traces how revolutions in timekeeping over the past three centuries have helped us find our way. Free. 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Air and Space Museum.

Wednesday, May 8: Suma Qamaña: Celebrating the International Year of Quinoa

The Plurinational State of Bolivia is putting its culture on display this week with a celebration of food and performances centered around everyone’s favorite protein-filled pseudocereal, quinoa. In addition to plenty of samples for tasting, the five-day event will feature a baroque music concert, folk music, traditional dances, art, storytelling and other family-friendly activities. Get a glimpse of what’s in store in this preview. Free. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. American Indian Museum.

Thursday, May 9: Musicians from Marlboro

Star classical musicians from Vermont’s Marlboro Music Festival are in the house this evening to perform an eclectic mix of quartets, including Stravinsky’s Concertino for String Quartet and Brahms’ Piano Quartet in A Major, op. 26. Free. 7:30 p.m. Freer Gallery.

Also, check out our Visitors Guide App. Get the most out of your trip to Washington, D.C. and the National Mall with this selection of custom-built tours, based on your available time and passions. From the editors of Smithsonian magazine, the app is packed with handy navigational tools, maps, museum floor plans and museum information including ‘Greatest Hits’ for each Smithsonian museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

Kota Ezawa recreates famous moments in history and pop culture with basic animation software. He is visiting the Hirshhorn on Thursday to talk about his art. Photo by Independent Curators International, courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons

Tuesday, April 30: Did an Emperor Kick-Start the Renaissance?

Most of the art of Emperor Frederick II’s court was destroyed after his death, but there is evidence that the Roman ruler, who directed his artists to recreate the splendor of ancient Rome, sparked the Renaissance during his reign in the 13th century. This evening, art historian Louisa Woodville, a teacher at George Mason University, juxtaposes the surviving works of Frederick’s court with those of the proto-Renaissance to make the case for the emperor’s influence. Tickets $25, with member discounts. 6:45 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Ripley Center.

Wednesday, May 1: Hands-On Family Craft Activities

Most Wednesdays and Saturdays this Summer, the American Indian Museum is offering a hands-on experience of Native culture. Stop by the museum this afternoon to learn how to make a Native craft that you can take home with you. Free. 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Wednesday and Saturdays through August. American Indian Museum.

Thursday, May 2: Meet Artist Kota Ezawa

Japanese-German artist Kota Ezawa recreates famous moments in television, film and art history with rudimentary digital drawing and animation software. Frame by frame, he has covered the Kennedy assassination and O.J. Simposon’s trial to clips from popular movies. This evening, the artist discusses the method behind his approach with a talk on “A History of ‘Poor Animation.’ ” Free. 7 p.m. Hirshhorn Museum.

Also, check out our Visitors Guide App. Get the most out of your trip to Washington, D.C. and the National Mall with this selection of custom-built tours, based on your available time and passions. From the editors of Smithsonian magazine, the app is packed with handy navigational tools, maps, museum floor plans and museum information including ‘Greatest Hits’ for each Smithsonian museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

A Native doll by Juanita and Jess Rae Growing Thunder. Three women from three different generations of the Growing Thunder family are at the American Indian Museum on Friday to discuss their work and people. Photo courtesy of the American Indian Museum

Friday, April 19: Native Artists: Doll Makers

Far more than toys, Native dolls embody the traditions, beliefs and rich cultural heritage of their Native makers. This weekend, a three-generation family of craftswomen, Joyce, Juniata and Jess Rae Growing Thunder, will discuss their art and share the stories of their Assiniboine-Sioux people. Their figures, which are made of buffalo hair, hide, porcupine quills and shells, are currently on display in “Grand Procession: Dolls from the Charles and Valerie Diker Collection” Free. 11 a.m. to 1 am and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. (repeats Saturday). American Indian Museum.

Saturday, April 20: Time and Navigation Family Day

Sea captains once relied on chronometers to calculate where they were. Today, we use satellites, and anyone can tap the Global Positioning System’s satellite-borne clocks with their cell phone to figure out exactly where he or she is or how to get somewhere. “Time and Navigation: the Untold Story of Getting from Here to There,” a new exhibit at the Air and Space Museum, traces how revolutions in timekeeping over the past three centuries have helped us find our way. Head over to the museum today for a family day that celebrates the exhibit’s opening. Free. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Air and Space Museum.

Sunday, April 21: Juvenile Offender

In director Kang Yik-wan’s award-winning Juvenile Offender (2012, Korean with English subtitles), a troubled 16-year-old (played by the youngest person ever to win the Tokyo International Film Festival’s Best Actor award) winds up in a juvenile detention facility, where he is contacted by the mother who gave him up for adoption when he was born. The film is about the pair’s attempt together to pick up the pieces of their broken lives. If the trailer is any indication, you’ll want to make sure you bring some tissues. Free. 2:30 p.m.  Freer Gallery.

Monday, April 22: Reclaiming the Edge on Earth Day

What can we do to help the environment? How do we cut down on emissions, promote ecology and leave smaller carbon footprints? In celebration of Earth Day today, the Anacostia Community Museum is telling stories, running hands on-exhibits, giving river tours, planting trees and holding recycling demonstrations to teach us how to be better stewards of our planet. Free. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Anacostia Community Museum.

Also, check out our Visitors Guide App. Get the most out of your trip to Washington, D.C. and the National Mall with this selection of custom-built tours, based on your available time and passions. From the editors of Smithsonian magazine, the app is packed with handy navigational tools, maps, museum floor plans and museum information including ‘Greatest Hits’ for each Smithsonian museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

Secretary G. Wayne Clough testified before Congress today about the effects of sequestration on the institution. Photo by Ken Rahalm, courtesy of the Smithsonian

On April 16, Smithsonian Institution Secretary G. Wayne Clough testified before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about the impending effects of sequestration. Though the Obama administration had sought a $59 million budget increase for the Institution in fiscal 2014, this year Clough has to contend with a $41 million budget reduction due to sequestration. Gallery closings, fewer exhibitions, reduced educational offerings, loss of funding for research and cuts to the planning process of the under-construction National Museum of African American History and Culture were listed among the impacts of the sequestration.

Clough began his testimony: “Each year millions of our fellow citizens come to Washington to visit—for free—our great museums and galleries and the National Zoo, all of which are open every day of the year but one. Our visitors come with high aspirations to learn and be inspired by our exhibitions and programs.”

“It is my hope,” Clough told the committee, “that our spring visitors will not notice the impact of the sequestration.” Perhaps most noticeable would be the gallery closures, which, while they would not close entire museums, would restrict access to certain floors or spaces in the museums, unable to pay for sufficient security. Those changes would begin May 1, according to Clough.

Clough warned, however, that while these short-term measures will save in the near future, they might also entail long-term consequences. Unforeseen costs may arise in the form of diminished maintenance capabilities, for example. “Any delays in revitalization or construction projects will certainly result in higher future operating and repair costs,” Clough said.

This also threatens the Institution’s role as steward of thousands of historic and valuable artifacts–”Morse’s telegraph; Edison’s light bulb; the Salk vaccine; the 1865 telescope designed by Maria Mitchell, America’s first woman astronomer who discovered a comet; the Wright Flyer; Amelia Earhart’s plane; Louis Armstrong’s trumpet; the jacket of labor leader Cesar Chavez,” to name a few.

Around the Mall will keep the issue updated and tweet significant closures.

Gerhard Richter (above) is one of the world’s most accomplished living painters. Watch a documentary about him and his creative process at the Hirshhorn Museum this Thursday. Photo c.1970 by Lothar Wolleh, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Tuesday, April 2: Sousa on the Rez

John Philip Sousa was a late Romantic era American composer famous for his military and patriotic waltzes—not necessarily the type of music you would expect to hear on a Native American reservation. It turns out, however, that his tuba- and trumpet-heavy marches have been part of many Native American cultures for more than 100 years. “Sousa on the Rez” (2012) is a 30-minute documentary directed by Cathleen O’Connell that explores this little-known Native music scene. Free. 11 a.m. American Indian Museum.

Wednesday, April 3: Creative Workshop with Tamara Thomas

Feel an itch to be a little creative? Local artist Tamara Thomas is on-site today to help museum visitors craft their own unique piece of takeaway art. A range of artistic materials provided—just bring your imagination. Free (reservations required, call 202-633-4844). 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Anacostia Community Museum.

Thursday, April 4: Gerhard Richter Painting

Gerhard Richter is one of the most highly regarded visual artists alive today. The German-based painter, photographer and glass artist, now 81, has had a robust career of producing both photorealistic and abstract works that have defied expectations of style and explored illusionistic space in contemporary art. Gerhard Richter Painting is a 2011 documentary by Corinna Belz that follows the Richter as he prepared for his 2011-12 retrospective. It interweaves scenes of the artist at work, archival footage and interviews with art scholars and the artist’s contemporaries. In the film, Belz says of Richter,   “I think the challenge of working on camera attracted him to [being on film], creating new rules and new situations and then making it look easy and graceful.” See a trailer here. Free. 8 p.m. Hirshhorn Museum.

Also, check out our Visitors Guide App. Get the most out of your trip to Washington, D.C. and the National Mall with this selection of custom-built tours, based on your available time and passions. From the editors of Smithsonian magazine, the app is packed with handy navigational tools, maps, museum floor plans and museum information including ‘Greatest Hits’ for each Smithsonian museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

Both male and female figures were portrayed with body art and tattoos, but females were typically shown with the decoration covering their shoulders and chest. In addition, her seated posture indicates she is of an elevated social status. Greater Nicoya female figure on a feline-effigy bench, AD 800–1200 Linea Vieja area, Costa Rica Pottery. All photos by Ernest Amoroso, courtesy of the American Indian Museum

Thousands of years old, the ceramics of Central America tell us a great deal about the societies who made them. Religious beliefs, gender dynamics, societal hierarchies–all of this lies encoded in the sculptural and pictorial choices of the people who made the more than 160 objects that comprise the American Indian Museum’s new exhibition, “Cerámica de los Ancestros: Central America’s Past Revealed,” opening March 29 in Washington, D.C.

Sponsored by both the museum and the Smithsonian’s Latino Center, the new bilingual exhibition is supported by more than two years of research and a thorough investigation of the American Indian Museum’s archaeological collections, some 12,000 pieces from the region, many of which have never been displayed in public. The show seeks to display the diversity of not only the objects, but also the cultures of Central America, and showcases 160 works crafted from gold, jade, copper, marble, shell and stone and dating from 1,000 B.C. to the present.

Kevin Gover, the museum’s director and Eduardo Díaz, the director of the Latino Center, write that the materials, “testify to the complexity of long-lived governments and social systems, and to the importance and sophistication of the art and science in the communities where they were made. They speak of the patience, sensitivity, and innovation of their makers.”

The exhibit covers seven major archeological regions, including Greater Nicoya, Central Caribbean, Greater Chiriquí and Greater Coclé.

While some pieces, particularly from the Maya, took on an abstracted quality, this pre-classic human-monkey figure shows a turn toward realism. Pre-Classic period Maya human-monkey figure, AD 200–300 Villa de Zaragoza, Chimaltenango Department, Guatemala Pottery

Jade and gold works round out the exhibit and show how artists worked across materials. Using a material like gold in Panama, even if locally produced, often signaled an exposure and knowledge of outside cultures, bolstering the owner’s authority. Greater Coclé pendant with warrior figures, AD 500–1200 Península de Azuero, Herrera Province, Panama

This elaborate piece of pottery is actually a musical instrument. Classic period Maya whistle representing a seated woman, AD 600–900 Quiché Department, Guatemala Pottery

Many ceramics were made by and for households but larger societies could support specialists. Greater Nicoya female figure from AD 800–1350 Near Rivas, Rivas Department, Nicaragua Pottery. Photo by Ernest Amoroso

A fearsome god of fire provides a contrast to the vessel’s likely contents. Heavy incisions carve the figure’s face into the surface in contrast to additive works which build form up from the surface. Lempa River vessel depicting the god of fire, AD 900–1200 San Salvador Department, El Salvador Pottery

The tripod form was a common one for vessels but here the artist plays with the form to help enhance the animal’s figure. Greater Nicoya tripod vessel in the form of an agouti, AD 1000–1350 Nicoya, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica Pottery

Drawing inspiration from the wildlife around them, Greater Nicoya artists incorporated figures like the crocodile into their work. Greater Nicoya crocodile jar, AD 1000–1350 Filadelfia, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica Pottery.

The exhibition will be open through February 1, 2015 at the American Indian Museum.

These flowers are always in bloom at the American Art Museum. Courtesy of the museum

Though you might not know it judging from the forecast most places, spring has indeed arrived. And despite the unpredictable D.C. weather, the snow, sleet, cold rain and wind hasn’t kept the tourists away. Crowds are gathering in the nation’s capital for the first glimpses of the cherry blossoms. For those of you interested in making the most of your visit, the editors over here have released two new spring-themed tours to help showcase the seasonal delights both inside and outside along the Mall.

The Gardens tour will take you to our many well-maintained plots around the Mall to see more than just a few pink blooms by the Tidal Basin, including heirloom plants, geometric splendors reminiscent of the grandest of European gardens and even a Victory Garden.

The Kathrine Dulin Folger Rose Garden provides an iconic backdrop for your family vacation photo. Courtesy of Smithsonian Gardens

The courtyard at the Freer Gallery of Art is as beautiful as the museum’s collection inside. Courtesy of Smithsonian Gardens

The winding paths of the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden provide a quiet retreat. Courtesy of Smithsonian Gardens

What would spring be without the crack of bat? Pay homage to some of the game’s greats at the National Portrait Gallery. Courtesy of the museum

In case the sun forgets to show up, head inside for a dose of paradise in the Butterfly Pavilion. Courtesy of the Natural History Museum

Spring in space could mean a few things, but in this instance, we’re talking about a clever spring made of two metals that heat and cool at different points, which was essential to the Lunar Rover Vehicle from the Apollo missions. Courtesy of the Air and Space Museum

The birds and blooms from this Japanese painting were actually borrowed symbols from China, likely to mark an auspicious occasion. Courtesy of the Freer Gallery

Head here to download the visitor’s app and get your step-by-step directions, custom postcard feature and greatest hits from the museums.

The Aloha Boys bring island sound to the East Coast.

Joann Stevens of the American History Museum. She is the program manager of Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) and last wrote about the Gees Bend Symphony.

A warm thought for a cold Spring Day.  Aloha reigns in Washington, DC!

For decades thousands of Hawaiian transplants and local natives of the islands’ ancestry have transplanted their cultural roots into the city’s hard clay soil. The result has been a flowering of ethnic education, dance schools and music, cultural exhibitions and slack key guitar concerts that have now created the area’s first Slack Key Guitar Festival at the Birchmere, and the rise of troubadors like the Aloha Boys.

The Aloha Boys, Hawaiian transplants, met 20-years ago at Halau O’ Aulani, a Hawaiian cultural school in Arlington, VA., where their children were studying. The “dads” formed a group to provide much needed Hula music to the school. The rest, as they say, is history. DC cultural history.

Since then the Aloha Boys have performed everywhere from school functions and backyard picnics to the Smithsonian’s American Indian Museum and its American History Museum, and the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. They have even represented Arlington County heritage events in Rheims, France.  In May, they perform at New York City’s Carnegie Hall.

Guitarist Glen Hirabayashi, a founding member of the group, said the catalyst for the group’s founding was their wives.  One wife was reared in Hawaii.  Another is a native of McLean, VA.  “My wife was a military brat who grew up most of her life in Arkansas,” Hirabayashi said. Yet each of the women held dear their cultural roots and insisted that their daughters, then two and three-years old, learn Hula. Hirabayashi says the children grew up enmeshed in Hawaiian culture and learned to seamlessly meld their East Coast identities with their Hawaiian enculturation.

The group’s daughters also carry on their heritage.

“We go back (to Hawaii) once a  year,” Hirabayashi said of his family.  “And you couldn’t tell that they weren’t local kids.  They do everything that everyone else does.  It’s wonderful seeing my kids appreciate the things I kind of took for granted.”

His youngest daughter, Amy Melenani (her name means “beautiful song”)  is now a junior at Virginia Tech and a notable Hula dancer.  She will be a featured performer at the 2013  National Cherry Blossom Festival.  His oldest daughter, Ashley Hokunani (her name means “beautfil star”) is married and relocated in North Carolina.  Yet. she still talks about her favorite song, Koke’e, and “her best memories ever” being when the legendary Slack Key guitarist Dennis Kamakahi “played and sang that song in our basement.”

Hirabayashi says Hawaiian music has a solid following in the Washington area, with concerts at Wolf Trap and Birchmere, selling out.  Ukelele music is experiencing a renaissance, he says, with the popularity of artists like jazz ukelele player Benny Chong, and music industry leaders like NAMM offering more than 50 ukelele exhibitors at its recent show.

But its Slack Key guitar and artists like Kamakahi that he would like to see more widely exposed, to preserve the music’s rich heritage and cowboy culture, Hawaiian style.  According to history, King Kamehameha III imported Spanish and Mexican cowboys to the Big island of Hawaii in the 1830s to help control a cattle boom that had overpopulated the island and become a nuisance. The cowboys brought their guitars and played music with the Hawaiian locals, known as Paniolo. Eventually the Paniolo adopted the guitar for their own ancient chants and songs.  Unfamiliar with or unlearned in how the Spanish tuned the guitar, the Hawaiian cowboys developed their own tuning style that became known as Slack Key.

Tuning styles became so secretive “That families have their own tunings,” said Hirabayashi. “It wasn’t until recently that it (tuning) was shared. Legend was that the Spanish cowboys didn’t teach Hawaiians how to tune them.  So they (Hawaiians) came up with their own tuning.”

The Garrison Dam, whose construction displaced the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in the 1950s. See a documentary on the dam’s effects on American Indians on Saturday.

Friday, March 22: Professor Wingnut Wants to Fly

Actor and educator Oran Sandel has a whole philosophy about the importance of playing with children, but his stage performances are all about making learning fun. Today, he teams up with puppeteer Dan Mori to make the duo Professor Wingnut and Seymour Seagull, an eccentric pair that teaches kids about the science of flight through song and dance. $8 adults, $6 children, $5 adult and child members, $3 children under 2. 10:15 a.m., 11:15 a.m. and 12:15 a.m. Air and Space Museum.

Saturday, March 23: Waterbuster

The construction of North Dakota’s Garrison Dam in the 1950s submerged 156,000 acres of fertile land and displaced the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. Filmmaker J. Carlos Peinado, a descendent of relocated tribes, revisits his ancestral homeland in Waterbuster (2006) to study the dam’s history and the effects of the government’s relocation policies on sovereign American Indian nations. Check out a short trailer for the film here. Free. 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. American Indian Museum.

Sunday, March 24: Luce Unplugged, with Kindlewood

Kindlewood is a Washington, DC-based trio that plays what its members call “dream folk-rock.” Don’t worry about labels, though — just listen to the music! The band’s gorgeous vocals and lush instrumentations will fill the Luce Foundation Center this afternoon following an art talk on a piece selected by the group. Free. 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. American Art Museum.

Also, check out our Visitors Guide App. Get the most out of your trip to Washington, D.C. and the National Mall with this selection of custom-built tours, based on your available time and passions. From the editors of Smithsonian magazine, the app is packed with handy navigational tools, maps, museum floor plans and museum information including ‘Greatest Hits’ for each Smithsonian museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

Nam June Paik’s “Electronic Superhighway” (he coined the phrase). See a curated selection of short films by the video artists on Wednesday at the American Art Museum. Photo by ekai courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.

Tuesday, March 19: Verbal Gymnastics

Poet, playwright and Verbal Gymnastics founder John Johnson is in the house this morning to help you unlock your inner poet. In line with his mission to use the arts to tackle troubling social issues, Johnson will show participants how to use their personal observations of and experiences in their communities to create original verse. Free. 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Anacostia Community Museum.

Wednesday, March 20: The Films of Nam June Paik

Nam June Paik (1932-2006) was an avant garde musician, installation artist and the world’s first video artist. The American Art Museum opened a retrospective of his career earlier this year (see some of his work at his website), and this evening curators at the museum will introduce a series of short films and video works by the multi-media pioneer. Free. 6:30 p.m. American Art Museum.

Thursday, March 21: Wahzhazhe: An Osage Ballet

The history of the Osage people comes alive this afternoon through a unique medium–ballet. The performance features the traditional dance, music and design of the Oklahoma-area Native people, and shows the triumphs and tragedies of their complex history, from their relocation from their homeland on the Osage River to the discovery of oil on their reservation to their lives today. Free. Daily at 3 p.m. through March 23. American Indian Museum.

Also, check out our Visitors Guide App. Get the most out of your trip to Washington, D.C. and the National Mall with this selection of custom-built tours, based on your available time and passions. From the editors of Smithsonian magazine, the app is packed with handy navigational tools, maps, museum floor plans and museum information including ‘Greatest Hits’ for each Smithsonian museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

Chahārshanbe-Sūri, Iran’s Festival of Fire, falls on the Wednesday before the Persian New Year. Join in celebrating Iran’s unique New Year traditions this Saturday at the Freer and Sackler Galleries.

Friday, March 15: Movie Night!

Tired of $10 movie tickets? Smithsonian has three free films on tap tonight. Rebels with a Cause (2012, 72 min, USA, directed/produced by Nancy Kelly and Kenji Yamamoto; trailer here) tells the story of pioneer environmental activists who saved California’s coastline from suburban development in the 1950s. Market Imaginary (2012, 54 min, USA, directed by Joanna Grabski; trailer here) investigates Dakar’s Colobane Market, a major market in the West African city that is deeply embedded in the local economy and culture. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002, 129 min, Korea, directed by Park Chan-wook, Korean with English subtitles; trailer here), follows a hearing-impaired factory worker who turns to an illegal organ-trafficking ring to get a new kidney for his dying sister, then goes on a quest for vengeance when he is cheated. All films free. In respective order: 6:30 p.m., 7 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Anacostia Community Museum, African Art Museum and Freer Gallery.

Saturday, March 16: Persian New Year Celebration

When Americans celebrate their new year, they watch a ball drop. Persians jump over fire. Chahārshanbe-Sūri, the Festival of Fire, preludes Nowrūz, the Persian New Year, which welcomes the beginning of spring. Today, learn about Iran’s exciting new year traditions while enjoying Persian songs, dances, games and food. You can even practice some (fake) fire jumping of your own! Fun for the whole family. Free. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Freer and Sackler Galleries.

Sunday, March 17: Hok-Noth-Da Story Time for Families

Hok-Noth-Da–Did you hear? People often remember stories their parents told them for their entire lives. Because they make such an impression, stories are ways for families and cultures to pass down important lessons for generations. Today, a Native museum staff member passes down lessons from different Native communities throughout the Western Hemisphere by reading children’s stories by or about Native people. Open to children ages 4 to 8. Free. 11:15 a.m. to 12 p.m. American Indian Museum.

Also, check out our Visitors Guide App. Get the most out of your trip to Washington, D.C. and the National Mall with this selection of custom-built tours, based on your available time and passions. From the editors of Smithsonian magazine, the app is packed with handy navigational tools, maps, museum floor plans and museum information including ‘Greatest Hits’ for each Smithsonian museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

Smithsonian in snow, circa 1977. Photo by Smithsonian Institution

Looking for something to do today, while the snowy weather conditions persist? The Smithsonian museums will be open for business today. But the National Zoo will be closed Wednesday, March 6, 2013.

Plan your visit, using our convenient Tours app, a free download is available here.

Jazz artist Michael “Bags” Davis pays tribute to trumpet legend Kenny Dorham (above, performing in Toronto in 1954) at Thursday night’s Take Five! jazz performance at the American Art Museum. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Tuesday, February 19: Voices of Native Youth

See life through the eyes of a young person in an indigenous community today in movie clips from the Native Youth Film and Video Festival. Open to submissions from American Indians, Alaskan and Hawaiian natives and members of Canadian First Nations under the age of 24, the festival selects numerous 10-minute films to be screened at the Santa Fe Indian Market in the summer. Last year’s chosen clips recently made their way to Smithsonian, where they are running until the end of the month. Free. 12:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. daily in February. American Indian Museum.

Wednesday, February 20: The Artist

The Artist is the most awarded French film in history. Shot in the style of a black and white silent film (check out its trailer), it depicts a romance between a fading silent film star and a rising actress from 1927 to 1932, when silent film was rapidly being replaced by sound film, a.k.a. “the talkies.” The American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery are showing the movie in their shared Kogod courtyard, which is an ideal place to escape a dull February Wednesday and slip into a romantic past. Be sure to bring along your Valentine from last week. Free. 7 p.m. to 8:40 p.m. American Art Museum, National Portrait Gallery.

Thursday, February 21: Take Five! Mike “Bags” Davis: Kenny Dorham

Trumpet rock star Michael Davis takes the stage tonight to perform the music of Kenny Dorham, one of jazz’s most influential trumpeters in the mid-19th century. Dorham made his mark playing bebop and hard bop, and composed the jazz standard “Blue Bossa.” Listen to a sample of Dorham’s genius here, and see Davis’s chops on display here. The performance is part of Smithsonian’s Take Five! program, a series of free jazz concerts every Thursday. Free. 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. American Art Museum.

Also, check out our Visitors Guide App. Get the most out of your trip to Washington, D.C. and the National Mall with this selection of custom-built tours, based on your available time and passions. From the editors of Smithsonian magazine, the app is packed with handy navigational tools, maps, museum floor plans and museum information including ‘Greatest Hits’ for each Smithsonian museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

Illustration by Aaron Sechrist

There was a lot of Twitter activity today covering the American Indian Museum‘s panel on the controversial use of Indian imagery and names in sports leagues, from football’s D.C. Redskins to baseball’s Cleveland Indians. Museum director Kevin Gover says the practice dates back decades but that it’s time to put an end to it. With some notable successes already achieved, the call to remove and replace the offensive names and mascots seems to be picking up speed and Gover predicts the mascots will be put to bed within the next couple of decades. The panel broke into three sections: mascot origin myths, case studies from around the country and D.C.’s own NFL team.

Take a look at some of the responses on Twitter where people wondered why the tradition persists and what can be done to change it:

Full list of panel participants:

• Manley A. Begay Jr. (Navajo), moderator, associate social scientist/senior lecturer, American Indian Studies Program, University of Arizona, and co-director, Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
• Lee Hester, associate professor and director of American Indian Studies and director of the Meredith Indigenous Humanities Center, The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
• E. Newton Jackson, associate provost and professor of Sports Management, University of North Florida
• N. Bruce Duthu (United Houma Nation of Louisiana), chair and professor, Native American Studies, Dartmouth College
• Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne/ Hodulgee Muscogee), moderator. President, Morning Star Institute and past executive director, National Congress of American Indians, and a founding trustee of the National Museum of the American Indian
• C. Richard King, co-editor, Team Spirits, Native Athletes in Sport and Society, and Encyclopedia of Native Americans in Sports, and professor and chair of the Department of Critical Gender and Race Studies, Washington State University
• Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Council of Chiefs, Northern Cheyenne Tribe; President, Nighthorse Consultants; Trustee, National Museum of the American Indian; Award-winning Artist/Jeweler, U.S. Representative of Colorado (1987-1993); and U.S. Senator of Colorado (1992-2005)
• Delise O’Meally, director of Governance and International Affairs, NCAA
• Lois J. Risling (Hoopa/Yurok/Karuk), educator and land specialist for the Hoopa Valley Tribes, and retired director, Center for Indian Community Development, Humboldt State University
• Ellen Staurowsky, professor, Department of Sports Management, Goodwin School of Professional Studies, Drexel University
• Linda M. Waggoner, author, Fire Light: The Life of Angel De Cora, Winnebago Artist; and “Playing Indian, Dreaming Indian: The Trial of William ‘Lone Star’ Dietz” (Montana: The History Magazine, Spring 2013), and lecturer, Multicultural Studies, Sonoma State University