The Museum is the 16th of the Smithsonian Institution, and is the first national museum dedicated to the preservation, study, and exhibition of the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of Native Americans. The museum works in collaboration with the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere to protect and foster their cultures by reaffirming traditions and beliefs, encouraging contemporary artistic expression, and empowering the Indian voice.

The museum's extensive collections encompass a vast range of cultural material—including more that 800,000 works of extraordinary aesthetic, religious, and historical significance, as well as articles produced for everyday, utilitarian use. The collections span all major culture areas of the Americas, representing virtually all tribes of the United States, most of those of Canada, and a significant number of cultures from Central and South America as well as the Caribbean. Chronologically, the collections include artifacts from Paleo-Indian to contemporary arts and crafts. The museum's holdings also include film and audiovisual collections, paper archives, and a photography archive of approximately 90,000 images depicting both historic and contemporary Native American life.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, reference library access, and recreational and educational events.

NOTE: The museum also maintains a branch in New York City, NY.

The Museum serves as the primary repository for the history, art, and culture of Littleton. It consists of two living history farms (one from the 1860s and one from the 1890s), a small lake, a collections center, and a main exhibition and administration building. Interpreters work the farm sites, run the blacksmith shop, and teach in the schoolhouse, offering a "living history" perspective to the museum visitor.

The museum offers exhibits, research library access, and recreational and educational events (including living history events).

The Museum tells the story of Fort Morgan and Morgan County through permanent and temporary exhibits. It also takes advantage of traveling exhibits from other institutions throughout the United States.

The museum offers exhibits, reference library access, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events.

The Museum is the only museum in the world dedicated exclusively to recognizing the contributions of women artists.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, research library access, educational programs, and educational and recreational events.

The Museum features 56 historic exhibits, many in relocated structures; an award-winning hands-on oil exhibition, Black Gold: The Oil Experience; and the Lori Brock Children's Discovery Center for youth eight and under. In addition, the museum hosts temporary exhibitions and special events.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, research library access, educational programs, and educational and recreational events (including living history events).

The museum shares the experience of Americans of Japanese ancestry. Through its comprehensive collection of Japanese American objects, images, and documents, as well as multifaceted exhibitions, educational programs, documentaries, and publications, the National Museum shares the Japanese American story with a national and international audience.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, research library access, educational programs, and recreational and educational events.

The museum collects, preserves, and interprets through historic artifacts and art the unique blending of diverse cultures within the Chilkat Valley. The Sheldon Museum's presentation of artifacts, clan trust property, and memorabilia includes permanent, temporary, and traveling exhibits.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, research library access, and occasional recreational and educational events.

The Museum presents an overview of U.S. naval history. Permanent and temporary exhibitions commemorate the Navy's wartime heroes and battles as well as its peacetime contributions in exploration, diplomacy, space flight, navigation, and humanitarian service.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events.

The National Museum of American History collects artifacts of all kinds—from gowns to locomotives—to preserve for the American people an enduring record of their past. The Museum has more than three million artifacts in its collection.

The museum offers exhibits, educational programs, and educational and recreational events.

The DAR Museum showcases the furnishings and decorative arts of pre-industrial America with permanent and changing exhibitions in two galleries. Thirty-one Period Rooms depict regional or period American interiors from the 17th to the early 20th century.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, reference library access, and occasional recreational and educational activities.