Mid-America All-Indian Center
| Established | 1976 |
|---|---|
| Location | 650 North Seneca Street, Wichita, KS 67203 USA |
| Coordinates | 37°41′32″N 97°21′7″W / 37.69222°N 97.35194°WCoordinates: 37°41′32″N 97°21′7″W / 37.69222°N 97.35194°W |
| Director | April Scott |
| Curator | Sarah Adams |
| Website | theindiancenter.org |
The Mid-America All-Indian Center is an American museum dedicated to the history and culture of Native Americans. The museum, which is located along the Arkansas River in the Riverside neighborhood of Wichita, Kansas, is considered the only facility solely dedicated to American Indian culture in the U.S. state of Kansas.
The Mid-America All-Indian Center serves as a cultural center and museum dedicated to educating people about and preserving the heritage of the American Indian.
The museum's collection includes the largest publicly displayed body of artwork by Blackbear Bosin, the late Kiowa-Comanche sculptor and painter. Other notable pieces in the collection include beadwork, pipe bags, jewelry, pottery, and baskets. The museum has a large collection of Alaska Native artwork from the mid-20th century, as well as flags from over 70 American Indian tribes displayed in the Gallery of Nations event space.
The Mid-America All-Indian Center opened in 1976 as a cultural center and provider of social services to the Native American community. The original co-founders of the museum included Betty Nixon, a Kiowa artisan who later served as the chairwoman of the center's board of directors. The Mid-America All-Indian Center's social services were later abolished, as similar programs could be provided more easily by other agencies, such as the Salvation Army or United Way of the Plains.
Jerry Martin, the current director of the Lowell D. Holmes Museum of Anthropology at Wichita State University, who was the museum's director from 1989 to 1999.
By 2005, the Mid-America All-Indian Center was suffering from debt and mismanagement. The museum was suffering from a range of financial issues, including heavy debt and overdue bills. A number of artifacts were also missing from the collection.
...
Wikipedia