Cynthia Chavez Lamar Becomes First Native Woman to Lead a Smithsonian Museum

Cynthia Chavez Lamar (San Felipe Pueblo) has been named the director of the National Museum of the American Indian, which has locations in Washington, D.C., New York, and Suitland, Maryland. Since January 2021, she had been the museum’s acting associate director for collections and operations.
The National Museum of the American Indian is part of the Smithsonian Institution, which also includes the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the National Por