HEARD MUSEUM

As well as being Arizona's best-known museum, the Heard Museum is probably the best place to discover native culture: you could easily spend 3 to 5 hours here, depending on your level of interest. Founded in 1929, the museum explores the state's 22 tribes through a breathtaking collection of traditional and contemporary art, supported by short documentaries. Two exhibitions are particularly noteworthy:

Substance of Stars. Created in collaboration with Amerindian artists, it brings to the museum's collections an indigenous perspective on tribal identity, spiritual values and the knowledge acquired through contemplation of the sky and stars. The result is a fascinating insight into four communities: the Haudenosaunee, Yup'ik, O'Odham and Diné.

Away From Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories. These poignant stories plunge visitors into the lives of young American Indians who were taken from their homes and placed in boarding schools to be "Americanized", from the late 1870s to the beginning of the ^21st century.

Native People in the Southwest. Also worth mentioning is this excellent collection of some 2,000 cultural treasures, ranging from jewelry to textiles to pottery - among others.

Indian Fair & Market. Every year in March, some 600 Native American artists come together for a fair that is as beautiful as it is impressive; one of the biggest of its kind.