The National Museum of the American Indian opens today. The Post reports thousands of Native Americans will participate in a week-long series of opening events. A procession and ceremony now underway which will continue until 1 p.m. is being broadcast on the web.

The long-awaited opening, which completes the National Mall, is laden with historic significance. In an op-ed in the Post Sunday, museum director W. Richard West Jr. described the opening of the museum as a “powerfully symbolic act.” West described his hope that, through the museum, Native people themselves can

address candidly the devastating impact of the European encounter and the social and cultural destruction that resulted. They proclaim, however, with pride and truth looking to the future, the cultural constancy of 21st-century Native communities in the Americas and their steadfast refusal to become mere ethnographic remnants of ancient histories.