The Lincoln Memorial will be getting a $69 million upgrade.

According to the National Park Service, a 15,000 square feet exhibit will be created underneath the Lincoln Memorial to tell a "more complete story" of its history.

“The undercroft of the Lincoln Memorial, long hidden from public view, offers a fascinating setting to learn more about America’s 16^th president and the memorial that honors him,” Jeff Reinbold, superintendent of National Mall and Memorial Parks, said. “Thanks to the National Park Foundation and its generous donors, visitors will be able to view this dramatic architectural feature, learn about the how the memorial was built and how its meaning has evolved over the last century.”

The National Parks Service says the exhibit will feature an immersive theater presentation with projected images of historic events onto the foundations.

“Improving the visitor experience at the Lincoln Memorial is vitally important to connecting Americans to the rich history of our country, the triumphs, the failures, and the lessons learned,” said David M. Rubenstein, who donated $18.5 million for the project.

The memorial will remain open during the construction. However, the basement area exhibits will close this spring.

The new exhibit is scheduled to open in March 2026.

SALT LAKE CITY — A man who is based in the Utah portion of the Navajo Nation is trying to give new life to the Navajo language and culture through a kid's TV show that uses puppets.

Pete Sands says that during the pandemic, he had the opportunity to travel to homes on the reservation and realized a large disparity between the older and younger generations.

"We started knowing the disparities between the older generation, the elder generation and the younger generation - they had no communication," Sands explained.

"The younger folks didn't know, they don't speak the language. They don't understand it."

Sands knew that he had to find a solution to keep his culture and language alive and teach it to the rising generation in a fun way.

In the early months of 2021, he saw with his own eyes how a teacher used a puppet to teach young children in her classroom and a light bulb went off.

"It was this an epiphany (...) I had seen this one thing where a teacher got the attention of children with a puppet," Sands said.

"Maybe I can create a puppet show where we teach a Navajo language and that's where it started."

Sands used his contacts in the film industry to help connect him to a puppet maker based in Los Angeles.

After sketching his vision for what he wanted the puppets to look like, Sadie, Ash, Grandma Sally and Uncle Al were born.

Gofundme

The four puppets, who were made with Navajo features, are meant to bridge the gap between the older and younger generations and are the main characters in the TV show, "Navajo Highways."

Sands recruited some help from a teacher who created a language program to teach Navajo.

The teacher is the host of the show and also voices the grandma puppet.

There are plans to film ten episodes and each episode will have a specific theme.

The first episode will focus on introduction and learning about the Navajo culture.

"Navajos had complex, complicated classes and it breaks it down to just really simple," Sands explained.

"Instead of making it so complicated, we break it down simple where people can understand it."

The show will also focus on unity between native Navajo people and others in the community.

"I think it's important not just to show specifically just native Navajo people, as to show them interacting with people outside the reservation and really bring everything together to show unity," Sands said.

"Just to help them expand beyond what they know...it's okay to be different."

Unlike English, the Navajo language is mainly phonetic, which can be a challenge when trying to teach it to others.

Sands is hoping that by teaching with puppets, it will make challenging lessons more fun to learn and kids will be able to retain the information more easily.

"[Enlgish and Navajo are] intertwined [in the show] because the little kids are learning to speak it in the show," Sands said.

"So that's how the audience grows with them - with the kids. They learn how to speak it."

As Sands and his team work on creating and filming episodes, they're looking for funding for the project.

A Gofundme page has been set up to collect donations.

Sands hopes that when the episodes are completed, he'll be able to put them on a platform that is free for everyone to watch.

"This is special, this is this is something way outside the box," he said.

"They see hope that this can really work. And I really think it can work. I mean, it's never been done before.

Sands says they've been chosen to do a few live shows on the reservation and in Arizona.

This year, they will potentially travel to Los Angeles for a live show.

He says the more that people see the special puppets and their potential to teach kids, the more they want them to come and participate in their own communities.

This story was first reported by Melanie Porter at KSTU in Salt Lake City.

November is Native American Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the rich and diverse culture, history and tradition of the hundreds of Native American tribes in the U.S.

"Native Americans have a way of honoring life and honoring the things that provide us life that are natural in this world," said Amber Saunders from the Tuscarora Tribe of North Carolina.

Every dance is an expression, a language in itself and the regalia they wear is a personal story.

Juanita Zermeno, of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, said, "It's not a costume. A costume is something you wear when you're pretending. We're not. This is us."

The drums you often hear in their songs represent a heartbeat.

"The heartbeat is the first thing that you hear in your mother's womb," Saunders said.

There are more than 500 tribes in the United States.

"We want people to know we are very much a thriving people and we practice our customs and our traditions, and we still have ways that we celebrate our culture and teach to younger generations and the public," Saunders said.

"If I know where we're coming from if I know you're coming from we can respect each other," Zermeno said.

Juanita Zermeno met her husband, Thomas Zermeno, in Texas. He is a Vietnam veteran.

As Thomas Zermeno laughed and smiled, he said, "It's one of those things. You just click, that's the one."

"Here we are 50 years later. So, we did something right!" Juanita Zermeno said.

The couple encourages people to look into their heritage.

"We're trying to get our grandkids to do the same thing. We want to let them know who their grandparents are," Thomas Zermeno said.

"I like to think we're productive citizens of a land that we love and we have fought for, from the very beginning," Juanita Zermeno said.

The Florida Indian Heritage Association in St. Lucie County runs two of the largest Pow Wows in Florida.

Watch the full story in the video above.