The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Inian is an institution of living cultures dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere; the museum was established in 1989 through an Act of Congress. Operating under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, the National Museum of the American Indian has three facilities: the National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., which opened on September 21, 2004; The George Gustav Heye Center, a permanent museum in New York City; and the Cultural Resources Center, a research and collections facility in Suitland, Maryland.