Experience an Educational Pow Wow at Mashantucket Pequot Museum

Known as the world’s largest Native American museum, the tribally owned and operated Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center presents their Educational Pow Wow in July, inviting the public to experience a rare glimpse into an important community tradition of America’s first people.

The living exhibition event, which is free with admission to the museum, “is a narrated exhibition showcasing Native American dancers and the significance of this cultural gathering for indigenous people,” explains Robert Hayward, director of marketing, explaining that the experience will give guests a better understanding and appreciation of the pow wow and how it sustains a sense of community among Native American participants.

This goal of demystifying the past and present of the region’s First Nation tribes resonates in all of the exhibits and programming offered by the Mashantucket Pequot Museum, which carries a mission of “strengthening Pequot Culture to honor and serve our Tribal family and friends.” Throughout the 308,000-square-foot complex, families and guests of all ages can engage with photographs and artifacts, admire commissioned art and traditional crafts, learn about contemporary Mashantucket Pequot life, and travel back in time, as far back as the ice age, to see the region’s changing environment. The immersive recreation of a 16th-century Pequot village places visitors in the sights and sounds of daily life pre-and post-European contact.  

Interacting with the surrounding landscape, the museum offers sweeping views of the swamp and unique ecology of the region from a 185-foot stone-and-glass tower. Guests can also learn more about eastern woodland lifeways, while browsing indigenous goods and produce, at the First Annual Strawberry Farmer’s Market on June 15.

“The museum brings to life the story of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation,” notes Hayward. The research center’s archival collections and conservation laboratories enable continued study to unfold in the field. “It serves as a major resource on the histories and cultures of Native Americans in the northeast and on the region’s rich natural history.” 

Save the date for Mashantucket Pequot Museum’s Educational Pow Wow on July 13. Visit the museum at 110 Pequot Trail, Mashantucket, Connecticut, and learn more about events and permanent exhibitions at PequotMuseum.org.