{"id":391434,"date":"2026-11-02T23:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T23:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/391434\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T23:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T23:48:10","slug":"5-native-american-experiences-in-new-york-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/391434\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Native American Experiences in New York City"},"content":{"rendered":"

Native Americans are a quintessential part of New York City\u2019s identity\u2014and their impacts are everywhere, if you know where to look. When I moved to Manhattan in 2022, I uncovered those Indigenous roots at art shows, culinary pop-ups, and other cultural events. <\/p>\n

As a Lakota-Dakota person, I will admit that my local Native knowledge isn\u2019t as extensive as someone of Lenape<\/a> heritage, the original peoples of this land long called Lenapehoking<\/a>. But like New York City\u2019s many Indigenous residents\u2014estimated at more than 180,000 people<\/a>, among the country\u2019s largest urban Native populations<\/a>\u2014I have spent a lot of time exploring how Indigenous influences shaped this place centuries before Dutch colonists arrived in the early 1600s.<\/p>\n

Running the length of modern-day Manhattan, the 13-mile Wickquasgeck Trail<\/a> was an important route, lined with Lenape villages, that European settlers eventually paved and renamed Broadway. Near the bottom of this path, near present-day City Hall, is Foley Square<\/a>, once known as Collect Pond<\/a>, a natural spring that hydrated tribes and colonies alike. Also on the trail is Union Square<\/a>, whose popular farmers\u2019 market features heirloom fruit and vegetable varieties that, like Broadway, have inextricable Lenape links. And uptown, Welikia Project<\/a>\u2019s interactive map reveals how Central Park<\/a> was once a major fishing, hunting, and gathering hub. Many Indigenous attractions are scattered across the city, and Barnard College\u2019s Indigenous Walking Tour<\/a> is one excellent way to learn about them.<\/p>\n

To immerse yourself in New York City\u2019s Native side, here are five places I think everyone should visit, whether you\u2019re a local or a traveler.<\/p>\n

Gochman Family Collection<\/p>\n

\"Cara<\/p>\n

The Gochman Family Collection has a magnitude of Indigenous art on display, including When Animals Were People (A Study) by Cara Romero.<\/p>\n

RSVP for address, Upper East Side, New York<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a true Native arts renaissance underway in New York City, with an impressive array of Indigenous fine arts on display. Helping propel this movement is the Gochman Family Collection<\/a> (GFC), a cultural institution and private art collection. GFC features more than 750 artistic works by contemporary Native artists\u2014one of the largest assemblages of its kind\u2014out of a residential home, which opened for select viewings in 2021. The institution lends pieces to museums like the Whitney Museum of American Art and events such as the Venice Biennale.<\/p>\n

Helming the GFC\u2019s creative direction is curator and artist Rachel Martin (Tlingit), who acquires genre-defying pieces such as provocative weavings by Tyrrell Tapaha<\/a> (Din\u00e9), the humorous sculpture Hi-Tech Peace Pipe by James Luna<\/a> (Pay\u00f3mkawichum, Ipai, and Mexican), and an intriguing photograph of masked children printed on silk organza by Cara Romero<\/a> (Chemehuevi). \u201cThere is no single way to make contemporary Native art,\u201d says Martin. \u201cThe work can be funny, strange, beautiful, political, deeply specific\u2014and completely of the present.\u201d<\/p>\n

This month, the GFC is also unveiling sister space Branchline<\/a>, a 10,000-square-foot arts and exhibition venue in New York\u2019s Hudson Valley. The Upper East Side location\u2014which reveals its address only to tourgoers after they\u2019ve registered\u2014has monthly public visiting hours that are announced by newsletter<\/a> and social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lakota Frybread Co.<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/p>\n

Order a warm fry bread with w\u00f3japi in Maria Hernandez Park.<\/p>\n

Photo by Here Now\/Shutterstock (L); courtesy of Lakota Frybread Co. (R)<\/p>\n

Maria Hernandez Park, Bushwick, Brooklyn<\/a> <\/p>\n

New York City doesn\u2019t have any permanent Native-led restaurants, so I was excited to see Lakota Frybread Co.<\/a> popping up in Bushwick\u2019s Maria Hernandez Park in August 2026. Sometimes called Indian tacos, these deep-fried discs of dough can be served with savory or sweet toppings.<\/p>\n

As a Lakota-Dakota person, my first experience of Native food was fry bread. It\u2019s a nostalgic treat for me that holds a complicated history. In the 1860s, the Navajo<\/a> and other tribal communities were removed from their ancestral homelands and unable to access their traditional foods, such as blue corn, tepary beans, and wild game like deer and antelope. The U.S. government instead provided processed European ingredients such as white flour, sugar, and lard. These components could be cooked together quickly in a pan or over an open fire, resulting in this starchy postcolonial staple.<\/p>\n

Today, fry bread is a food that, while beloved, symbolizes Indigenous oppression, resistance, and resilience\u2014representing what is possible from making something from nothing. Lakota Frybread Co. founder Raini Skye Field (Cheyenne River Sioux) pairs her version with w\u00f3japi, a warm berry sauce traditionally made by Great Plains tribes with chokecherries, today often substituted with blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, and the like. \u201cI grew up with w\u00f3japi being made by my mom,\u201d says Field. \u201cIt\u2019s such a comfort food for me.\u201d Get yours most Sundays at noon until they sell out.<\/p>\n

National Museum of the American Indian <\/p>\n

1 Bowling Green, Financial District, New York<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes New York a Native place?\u201d That\u2019s the question at the heart of the sprawling interactive exhibition Native New York<\/a>, which takes visitors on a visual journey to 12 Indigenous places across the state at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of the American Indian<\/a>. Since 1994, the cultural institution has aimed to act as an \u201chonest and thoughtful conduit to Native cultures\u2014present and past\u2014in all their richness, depth, and diversity,\u201d according to its website. Leading those efforts is director Cynthia Chavez Lamar<\/a> (San Felipe Pueblo), who in 2022 became the first Native woman to head a Smithsonian museum.<\/p>\n

At the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in lower Manhattan, Indigenous identities are explored in contemporary and historical exhibitions as well as during engaging cultural events<\/a>, including a July 2026 concert by Plains Cree and Salish R&B musician Tia Wood<\/a>. Current exhibitions include Jeffrey Veregge: Of Gods and Heroes<\/a>, the Salish artist\u2019s comic story filled with bright action figures designed in Pacific Northwest formline style, and Ancestral Connections<\/a>, featuring 10 artists interpreting their tribes\u2019 painting, pottery, and other artistic techniques inflected by their unique perspectives and lived experiences.<\/p>\n

Relative Arts<\/p>\n

\"Korina<\/p>\n

Korina Emmerich and Liana Shewey opened an Indigenous futurism clothing store in the East Village.<\/p>\n

Photo by Miah Mccarthy (L); courtesy of Relative Arts (R)<\/p>\n

367 E. 10th St., East Village, New York<\/a> <\/p>\n

The first and only \u201cIndigenous futurism\u201d shop in the five boroughs is Relative Arts<\/a>, which features fashion, jewelry, accessories, home goods, and contemporary works made by more than 50 Indigenous artists from across the Americas. But there\u2019s a lot more on offer at this petite East Village storefront, which opened in 2023. It also doubles as a peer-run creative studio, a pop-up concert and art exhibition venue, and a community gathering space, as envisioned by fashion designer Korina Emmerich (Puyallup) and community organizer Liana Shewey (Mvskoke).<\/p>\n

\u201cSo much of Indigenous design is Indigenous storytelling,\u201d Emmerich says. \u201cWhen people walk into Relative Arts, we want them to feel like they\u2019re walking into their relatives\u2019 place\u2014like home.\u201d Last year, Emmerich and Shewey also launched Indigenous New York Fashion Week<\/a> to foster an even larger platform for Native creatives showcasing their work. This year\u2019s affair highlighted looks by 30 designers from across the globe.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Botanic Garden\u2019s \u201cOhkehteau (Plants of the Earth): A Shinnecock Oral History\u201d<\/p>\n

990 Washington Ave., Brooklyn, New York<\/a><\/p>\n

The city\u2019s countless high-rises and planned parks can leave you wondering about New York City\u2019s original landscape. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden offers a glimpse through Ohkehteau (Plants of the Earth): A Shinnecock Oral History<\/a>, an exhibit within the Native Flora Garden<\/a>. In the accompanying audio commentary, historian Chenae Bullock<\/a> (Shinnecock) explains plant names in her Native language and shares stories of her tribe\u2019s relationship to each species. For instance, sassafras bark oil was largely used for medicinal purposes by Indigenous groups and then became wildly popular among European settlers, who believed the plant to be a panacea, using it to flavor root beer, tea, and candy.<\/p>\n

In a bustling metropolis where you often can\u2019t see the literal land you\u2019re walking on, this tour is the most grounding experience in local Native culture I\u2019ve come across. It gives a living human voice to New York State tribes that otherwise aren\u2019t readily represented. The exhibit also serves as a reminder that even as the land changes over time, the impacts and influences of a place\u2019s original peoples\u2014and plants\u2014live on.<\/p>\n