American Indian Genocide Museum facts for kids

The American Indian Genocide Museum is a museum located in Houston, Texas that is dedicated to documenting the atrocities committed against the American Indians.

Mission

The museum is dedicated to documenting the near extermination or total extinction of Native American tribes and peoples. The museum takes the position that this was a result of genocide. It is designed to raise public awareness of the elements of genocide that existed in the history of the United States.

Location

The museum is located in Houston, Texas. Texas was chosen since the state had gone further than any other state, running all but a few tribes out, or otherwise eliminating them.

Collections and exhibits

The museum has a number of unique exhibits, such as an invoice for smallpox infected blankets that were given to the Delaware tribe, to an account that alleges Texas soldiers intentionally infecting Indians and then releasing them to go back to their tribes.

Public activism

In 2011, the president of the museum commented on the protest of some African-American groups over a proposed Confederate flag specialty license plate in Texas while supporting a Buffalo soldiers plate. Steve Melendez, a Paiute, noted that while the furor over the Confederate flag was understandable, American Indians felt the same way about the Buffalo soldiers. The museum also protests Buffalo soldier recreation groups, noting that it is as if "as if hunting our people down and forcing them onto reservations was at one time, the patriotic thing to do.