The Festival of American Folklife offers the Smithsonian Institution an opportunity to show through demonstration and performance some aspects of the cultural roots of the people of the United States. The Festival is a living exhibition of the creativity of the many ethnic groups that make up the culture of this country.

The Smithsonian's interest in American culture is not new. The first Secretary, Joseph Henry told the Minnesota Historical Society in 1856 "The everyday occurrences of the present which are considered of little importance at the time become the materials of history in the future. It is therefore highly desirable that they be gathered up and that records be faithfully preserved of everything which tends to shape the character of our rapidly advancing territory."

In 1879, the Bureau of American Ethnology was founded under the direction of John Wesley Powell. The Bureau was placed under the Smithsonian Institution by Congress, and its purpose was the study of the Indian cultures that made up the civilization of these United States before the coming of the European.