Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ

The Heard Museum is located close to downtown Phoenix. The two of us and Adi's mum (who we all call Dadda for no particular reason) paid a visit. Party since it was a weekend day when we had the evening all planned up: someone was visiting us at 6pm that day. Anyway, driven by my developing curiosity in Native American history and culture and another opportunity to spend time meaningfully, we drove to the museum.


Things started off nicely with a guided tour by a descendent of the Apaches. All the guides there seemed to be kids in their late teens who descended from Native American families, which is really nice of course. The Heard Museum is an art museum and so isn't a whole lot fascinating unless you can appreciate it. Nonetheless there were some amazing artifacts especially the Kachina dolls of the Hopis which were extremely intriguing. "The Hopi Kachina religion is based on a cannon of sacred beliefs, and those beliefs center on the concept of spirit, called "Kachinas", who visit the people bringing blessings, rain and other good things."

Also memorable was the Hogan and the fascinating 160 foot mural that describes the interaction between the native American and the white man and depicts images of betrayal and deception as the Natives were removed and relocated.


In all, a great experience. Museums are fascinating places, but do not stay in your mind as long as visits to some places of natural wonder like the Grand Canyon. What they sometimes do to you though is inspire you to learn more. Perhaps the visit to the Heard Museum left less of an imprint than it provided an impetus to explore.