The National Mall in Washington holds tribute to many things that we, as Americans, hold dear. The U.S. Capitol building on one end, facing the Lincoln Memorial, with the Vietnam War Memorial, Korean War Memorial and the Washington Monument and the Reflecting Pool, where the Civil Rights March on Washington made history.

Recently, a new tribute was added to the National Mall and the Smithsonian Institute — The National Museum of the American Indian was opened in between the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum and the U.S. Capitol building. This new building, dedicated to the indigenous populations of North America, finally shows the respect to the first inhabitants of America.

The new museum, costing $219 million, considers many aspects of American Indian culture and mirrors the respect for the Earth it sits on. The native landscape that surrounds the new building is the four traditional landscapes that American Indians lived on: forest, wetlands, meadow and traditional croplands. Medicinal and food crops are planted in the croplands.

The 250,000-square-foot museum holds nearly a million American Indian artifacts. It is estimated that the new museum will attract 6 million visitors a year. There are 35 million or so indigenous people living in North and South America, with about 3 million here in the United States. The wide and diverse cultures of the American Indians are represented with more than 500 native cultures in the U.S.

The building itself is quite the masterpiece. Architects of the building incorporated many aspects of American Indian culture and life into the building and museum grounds.

There are more than 40 “grandfather” rocks that rest on the museum grounds. These rocks are seen as the elders of the museum. Originating from the Montagnais Indians in Canada, these rocks were blessed before arriving in Washington, and upon arrival there, a Monacan Indian blessed the rocks as well.

Not an aspect of the building or museum ground was overlooked. The surrounding land imitates original landscapes, and even indigenous plant species are planted and now live in landscape. More than 33,000 plants surround the museum and celebrate its grounds. The outside of the building is decorated with a Kasota dolomitic limestone quarried from the Minnesota River Valley. The rough and different sizes of the Kasota Stone gives the building a fresh but naturally created look.

As terrific as this new museum is, we must not forget the terrible persecution that American Indians were subject to when the white settlers came to “the New World.” Ironically enough, the Kasota stone from Minnesota has a terrible past.

On Dec. 26, 1863, in Mankato, Minn., 38 Sioux warriors were executed near where the rock for the museum was quarried. More than 300 warriors were condemned to death, but President Lincoln pardoned all but 38. To this day, the execution and hanging of these 38 men remains the largest mass execution in American history. The American-Sioux conflict did not end until the massacre was completed by the 7th Calvary at Wounded Knee, S.D., on Dec. 29, 1890.

The American Indian museum is a tribute to the indigenous people who once thrived on this land. The violent past is something that should not be forgotten, but, instead, used as a lesson. Never again should the people of this great country allow such terrible and ruthless killing of indigenous populations. This is a lesson that should be learned.

The new museum is the perfect way to honor the American Indians by combining their rich cultures, languages and turbulent past into an outlook of hope for the future. Someday the American Indians will receive true retribution that they deserve, and won’t have to live under the stone-cold glare of the Kasota stone.