SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: He says it is important for musicians to set a good example.

MICHAEL BUCHER: "You can stay away from the drugs, and you can stay away from the alcohol and the gangs.

(MUSIC)

STEVE EMBER: The Smithsonian Institution in Washington opened the National Museum of the American Indian in two thousand four. The museum presents the history and culture of native groups from North, Central and South America.

The latest exhibit is called "Vantage Point." All thirty-one works in the exhibit explore identity, history, culture or landscape from a Native American point of view.

For example, artist Marie Watt, a Seneca Indian, sews together recycled fabric. In some ways the work is like piecing together a quilt.

Ms. Watt creates most of her pieces in a circle. She spent a day at the museum inviting visitors to help her create a new work.

MARIE WATT: "You can come and go when you please. No sewing experience in necessary. Any age person can participate. You can be two years old or one hundred."

If there are weak parts within the project, she simply adds more stitches for strength.

MARIE WATT: "Everybody’s stitches are really important."

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Performance artist James Luna is a Puyoukichum or Luiseno Indian from Southern California. He almost always creates works that are recognizably Native American. But he says they do not have to be.