DC | Service and Sacrifice: Memorial Day 2026

On Memorial Day, honor Indigenous service members who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the United States Armed Forces. This year, we honor the legacies of Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Northern Cheyenne, 1933-2025) and Harvey Phillip Pratt (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, 1941-2025) and their invaluable contributions to the museum. Hear from Native veterans, make prayer ties to remember loved ones, and pay your respects during a wreath-laying ceremony at the National Native American Veterans Memorial.

SCHEDULE

Level 1, Potomac Atrium

• 10:30 AM | Opening Prayer, National Anthem, Posting of the Colors, Welcome Remarks
• • Join us for an honor song and prayer to remember fallen Native service members, followed by a performance of the Star-Spangled Banner by Miss Lumbee, Taylor Davis, and the posting of the colors by the Buddy Bond Color Guard and the Lumbee Warriors. Michelle Delaney, Acting Associate Director for Museum Research and Scholarship, will offer welcome remarks. 
• 10:30 AM-5:30 PM | Hands On: Prayer Ties
• • Learn about the importance and tradition of making prayer ties with museum staff. Then, make your own to remember and honor loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the military. Materials will be provided. Completed prayer ties will be tied to the four lances that flank the National Native American Veterans Memorial outside on the museum’s grounds.
• 10:30 AM-5:30 PM | Information Tables
• • National Native American Veterans Memorial
  • • See a small-scale model of the memorial design, learn about its development and construction, and pick up bookmarks featuring the stories of Indigenous service members across military branches.

Level 4

• 10:30 AM–5 PM | Veterans Hospitality Suite
• • Veterans are invited to gather in the Patrons' Lounge for conversation or take a break from the day's events; seating and light refreshments provided.
• 10:30 AM-5 PM | Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces
• • This banner exhibition honors the generations of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian members of the United States Armed Forces, and commemorates the National Native American Veterans Memorial, dedicated at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

Level 3, Making a Statement

• 11:30 AM | Curator Tour: Making a Statement
• • Curator Anya Montiel (Mestiza/Tohono O'odham descent) offers a closer look at the museum’s special installation Making a Statement, which demonstrates how Native women combine traditional design elements with modern military symbolism to demonstrate cultural pride and honor military service. The installation features a historical Lakota beaded dress decorated with elaborate patriotic American imagery and a blue jingle dress made by members of the Native American Women Warriors to show pride in their Indigenous heritage and to emphasize the role of Native women in the military. Then, get hands-on to learn more about beadwork, jingle cones, and other design elements related to Native dressmaking in the museum’s Teaching Collection.

Level 1, Rasmuson Theater, americanindian.si.edu…

• 1 PM | Veterans Remembered: Family Tributes
• • Hear from representatives of the families of Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Harvey Phillip Pratt as they share remembrances of their loved ones. Gov. Reggie Wassana will offer remarks on behalf of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. 
• 1:30 PM | Remembering Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Harvey Phillip Pratt (Panel Conversation)
• • Join museum director Dr. Cynthia Chavez Lamar (San Felipe Pueblo, Hopi, Tewa and Diné) as she leads a conversation reflecting on the legacies of Sen. Campbell and Mr. Pratt. Their experiences as service members and veterans deeply impacted and shaped their relationships to the National Museum of the American Indian and the museum's staff and supporters. Dr. Chavez Lamar will be joined on the panel by W. Richard West Jr. (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes), Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee), and museum curator Rebecca Head Trautmann. 

Outdoors, Welcome Plaza

• 3 PM | Wreath Laying Ceremony at the National Native American Veterans Memorial
• • Meet on the Welcome Plaza for closing remarks from museum leadership. Remarks will be followed by the laying of memorial wreaths at the National Native American Veterans Memorial. A brief selection of honor songs will be sung during the wreath laying, and closed with a performance of Taps on bugle. The memorial flame will remain lit until 5 PM for visitors to pay their respects.

Level 1, Potomac Atrium

• 4:30 PM | Retiring of the Colors
• • The Buddy Bond Color Guard and the Lumbee Warriors will retire the colors to end the day.

*Programs and schedule subject to change, additional details to be announced. 

Image: Photo by Norwood Photography for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian

Major funding provided by The Boeing Company.