Kevin Gover, the longtime director at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, will enter into a new role at the institute this week as the new Under Secretary for Museums and Culture.
Gover, a member of the Pawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, has served as acting director for his new role since February.
The Under Secretary for Museums and Culture oversees the Smithsonian’s history and art museums, its cultural centers, and the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Exhibits and the National Collections Program.
Gover was hired as director of the National Museum of the American Indian in 2007. Prior to that, he practiced law, eventually teaching within the Indian Legal Program at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.
From 1997 to 2000, Gover served as the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior. He made history on the 175th anniversary of the BIA when he formally apologized for the agency’s devastating impacts to Native Americans.
Particularly noteworthy during his tenure at the National Museum of the American Indian: Gover oversaw exhibits, such as “Americans,” which looked at Native Americans’ influence on present day identity of the nation; he initiated the National Native American Veterans Memorial through a commission from Congress; he helped launch Native Knowledge 360°, a national educational initiative that provides schools with more accurate and comprehensive Native American history materials.
Acting director Machel Monenerkit will continue to fill Gover’s role at the National Museum of the American Indian. Monenerkit has been working for the museum since 1994.
More Stories Like This
‘Take this and carry it to the top of the world’ | Lakota Man Becomes the First Native American to Summit Mt. EverestWATCH: Native Bidaské with MSNBC Contributor Alyssa London as She Discusses The Culture Is: Indigenous Women
Here’s What’s Going on in Indian Country, June 01—10
Long Awaited “Killers of the Flower Moon” about 1920 Osage Murders Receives a Nine- Minute Standing Ovation at Cannes Film Festival
First Nations Singer’s New Album A ‘Stamp in Time’ and ‘Act of Resistance’
Native News is free to read.
We hope you enjoyed the story you've just read. For the past dozen years, we’ve covered the most important news stories that are usually overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the rise of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools.
Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps. Most readers donate between $10 and $25 to help us cover the costs of salaries, travel and maintaining our digital platforms. If you’re in a position to do so, we ask you to consider making a recurring donation of $12 per month to join the Founder's Circle. All donations help us remain a force for change in Indian Country and tell the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked.
Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you.
