November is Native American Heritage Month, a time for reflecting on the history of the land, people, and cultures around the U.S. Marymount Manhattan College is situated on Lenapehoking, homeland of the Lenape diaspora who dwelled on lands that now encompass New York City, parts of Long Island and the Hudson Valley, New Jersey, northeastern Delaware, and eastern Pennsylvania.
Just a few streets away from campus sits the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Throughout the Month of November, The Met is honoring Native American and Indigenous communities through art, talks, and more. Children ages 18 months to 6 years old are invited to enjoy stories from Native American and Indigenous cultures every Tuesday and Thursday, from November 7 to 26. Additionally, Met Members can join tours of the permanent collection and Mary Sully: Native Modern every Tuesday and Saturday.
Gallery 746 South and North of The Met houses two permanent collections of Native American art in The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection and Mary Sully: Native Modern. The galleries contain artifacts from various Indigenous peoples across the United States—such as traditional clothing, bowls, masks paintings, and prints. The space feels small when considering that the entirety of Manhattan was once inhabited solely by Indigenous peoples.
Gallery 746 South arrived at The Met on July 14, 2023, and it is ongoing, Gallery 746 North is scheduled till January 12, 2025.
The South Gallery showcases Native American artists from the U.S. and Canada, featuring historical and contemporary works from over fifty Indigenous groups. It highlights diverse Native perspectives on America’s past and the ongoing significance of these artworks in both Native and non-Native communities. The display includes a wide range of media—painting, sculpture, textiles, and more—spanning the eighteenth century to the present, and is organized by seven regional styles.
The plaque that greets you as you enter Gallery 746 South reminds visitors of the exhibit’s significance saying in part, “We understand that these items—vibrant expressions of Native sovereignty, identity, and connections to community and family—embody intergenerational and environmental knowledge, including origin stories, languages, songs, dances, and ties to homelands.”
The North Gallery highlights Mary Sully, (born Susan Mabel Deloria) a Yankton Dakota artist whose work blends her Native American and settler ancestry. This first solo exhibition of her art showcases recent Met acquisitions and loans from the Mary Sully Foundation, highlighting her contributions to both Native and modern art. Featuring 25 pieces, the show offers a look into early 20th-century American art and life in colored pencil, black ink, gilt, white paint, and pastel crayon on paper.
