Last updated: 10/31/2020
Hwy 264 and Post Office Loop Rd.Window Rock, AZ 86515
P.O. Box 1840Window Rock, AZ 86515
Entrance to the galleries and festivals is Always Free
The Navajo Nation Museum has extensive holdings of art, ethnographic, archaeological, and archival materials. Our archives collection includes over 40,000 photographs as well as a wide variety of documents, recordings, motion picture film, and videos. The archives are heavily used by authors, researchers, and publishers as a source for historical photographs.
We collect anything that helps document the culture and history of the Navajo people, including selected materials from Tribal and non-Indian neighbors. Most of the collections are available for on-site study and exhibit loan.
The museum maintains a very active and professional exhibition program, most of which is produced in-house. In its new venue, most exhibitions have tended to highlight the work of Navajo artists in various media, including weavings. These art-oriented exhibitions are interspersed with historical and cultural exhibits. A comprehensive, large scale, long-term exhibition on Navajo Culture and History is currently being researched and scripted prior to design and construction over the next few years.
The museum was established in 1961, but for most of its history remained a very small entity, not much more than a one-person, one-room operation which was periodically moved from one inadequate space to another. In 1998, the Museum was moved into a recently-built 54,000 square foot contemporary purpose-built building which it shares with the Navajo Nation Library and Research collection. As part of this rebirth, the Navajo Nation Council authorized a comprehensive staff list and a major increase in budget to support the staff and new operations. In 1999, the Museum took over management of the entire building, for its own operations, those of the Library, and meeting/conference facilities.
The Navajo Nation Museum has extensive holdings of art, ethnographic, archaeological, and archival materials. Our archives collection includes over 40,000 photographs as well as a wide variety of documents, recordings, motion picture film, and videos. The archives are heavily used by authors, researchers, and publishers as a source for historical photographs.
We collect anything that helps document the culture and history of the Navajo people, including selected materials from Tribal and non-Indian neighbors. Most of the collections are available for on-site study and exhibit loan.
Navajo textiles, archaeology, ethnography, 2 and 2-D art. Archives of over 40,000 photographs plus a wide range of ancillary materials.
The Museum's education program is implemented by our Education Curator and Navajo Cultural Specialist. They present a diverse array of material, including gallery/exhibit tours, presentations on Navajo culture for small or large groups, in-house presentations to student groups, and in-school presentations for K-12 classes, teachers, and parents. The Museum's cultural education activities are one of the most important programs on the Reservation for teaching Navajo culture to youth.
A unit of the Navajo Nation, the Museum is under the Navajo Nation Historic Preservation Dept.
Access: Students, Scholars, Staff Only
Appointment required: Yes
To date, publications have been produced sporadically, and usually consist of exhibit catalogues of varying complexity.
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