First Americans Museum, Native American cultural museum in Oklahoma City, United States.
The First Americans Museum is a 12,000-square-foot museum in Oklahoma City designed by Johnson Fain Architects and Hornbeek, Blatt Architects. Visitors enter through the Remembrance Gate, two 40-foot walls of Mesquabuck stone, then pass into the Hall of People, a glass semi-dome supported by ten stone columns. Behind the building, a semi-circular earthen mound encloses an outdoor festival grounds.
The idea for a museum honoring Oklahoma's Indigenous peoples grew out of the state's 1989 land run celebration. Initiated in the 1990s as the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum, construction began in 2006, halted in 2012 when state funding ran out, and resumed in 2019 after responsibility shifted to Oklahoma City with support from the Chickasaw Nation and donors. It opened on September 18, 2021.
The museum's name comes from the Oklahoma state motto, 'Labor omnia vincit' — 'work conquers all' — and the galleries are organised around the 39 federally recognised tribes of Oklahoma. The on-site Thirty Nine Restaurant, whose kitchen is led by Potawatomi culinary architect Loretta Barrett Oden, serves Indigenous dishes; the number in its name refers to those same 39 nations.
The building houses a theater for screenings, a restaurant serving Indigenous cuisine, and a gift shop with handmade items by local artists. Plan to spend several hours exploring the exhibition spaces, as there is extensive content to discover.
The building's design integrates traditional Native American architectural elements with Oklahoma's natural landscape. This approach makes the structure itself a cultural statement, reflecting the connection between the tribes and their land.
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