Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian to host Makah Dancers event highlighting 1855 treaty

Performance scheduled at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian will host “DC | Makah Dancers” on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern Time. The free, one-time public event is scheduled for the museum’s Washington, D.C., location on Level 1 in the Potomac Atrium.

The program is designed as a cultural performance and interpretive presentation connected to the museum’s ongoing installation “Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations,” which is presented on Level 4 and also available online.

How the event connects performance to treaty history

The museum’s program description states that the Makah Dancers will perform traditional dances and songs to mark the installation of the 1855 treaty between the United States and the Makah. The performance is also set to include short remarks before the dancing begins, led by Janine Ledford, executive director of the Makah Cultural and Research Center in Neah Bay, Washington.

A Makah Tribal Council member is expected to share the community’s perspective on the treaty’s continuing impact and on the significance of protecting and exercising treaty rights tied to long-standing cultural practices.

What the 1855 treaty established

The treaty referenced in the event description is the Treaty of Neah Bay, negotiated in 1855 and associated with the creation of the Makah reservation at the northwestern tip of Washington state. Among other provisions, the treaty includes language securing the Makah’s right to take fish and to engage in whaling or sealing at usual and accustomed grounds and stations in common with U.S. citizens.

Treaty rights remain a central feature of legal and policy debates in the Pacific Northwest, where questions of resource use, access, and cultural continuity continue to intersect with federal, state, and tribal governance.

Part of a broader museum collaboration model

The Smithsonian event description also frames the program within an ongoing collaboration between the museum and the Makah Cultural and Research Center through the Tribal Museum Partner Program. The collaboration is described as supporting the return or loan of cultural items to home communities.

• Event: “DC | Makah Dancers”
• Date and time: Tuesday, January 20, 2026, 1–2 p.m. ET
• Location: National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C., Level 1, Potomac Atrium
• Admission: Free

The event is organized as a public performance tied to the museum’s treaties installation and to the continuing significance of treaty rights for the Makah community.