The Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum is an Indigenous museum in

Exeter, Rhode Island Exeter is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. Exeter extends east from the Connecticut border to the town of North Kingstown. It is bordered to the north by West Greenwich and East Greenwich, and to the south by Hopkinton ...

. The museum was founded by anthropologist Eva Butler and a Narragansett and

Wampanoag The Wampanoag , also rendered Wôpanâak, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands based in southeastern Massachusetts and historically parts of eastern Rhode Island,Salwen, "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island," p. 1 ...

woman named

Princess Red Wing Princess Red Wing, aka Mary E. (Glasko) Congdon, (March 21, 1896–December 2, 1987) was a Narragansett and Wampanoag elder, historian, folklorist, and museum curator. She was an expert on American Indian history and culture, and she once addressed ...

in the 1950s. It is one of the oldest tribal museums in the country and is located in

. The museum won a

National Medal for Museum and Library Service The National Medal for Museum and Library Service is an award given annually by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to American libraries and museums with outstanding service to their communities. The IMLS refers to the medal as "t ...

in 2016. The museum was nominated by U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. The museum showcases the history and culture of the natives peoples who have lived and currently reside in southeastern New England including the Narragansett,

Niantic Niantic may refer to: * Niantic people, tribe of American Indians * Niantic, Inc., mobile app developer known for the mobile games ''Ingress'' and ''Pokémon Go'' Ships * ''Niantic'' (whaling vessel), relic of San Francisco Gold Rush *USS ''Ni ...

Pokanoket The Pokanoket (also spelled PakanokickKathleen J. Bragdon, ''Native People of Southern New England, 1500–1650'', page 21) was the village governed by Massasoit (Wampanoag, c. 1581–1661). The term broadened to refer to all peoples and lands g ...

, Wompanoag and

Nipmuck The Nipmuc or Nipmuck people are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who historically spoke an Eastern Algonquian language. Their historic territory Nippenet, "the freshwater pond place," is in central Massachusetts and nearby par ...

. Exhibits include traditional crafts, such as ash splint baskets and locally made dolls, historical archives dating back to the 1880s, culture and important Indigenous figures including Princess Red Wing and Ellison "Tarzan" Brown Sr. The museum's grounds include a

wetu A wetu is a domed hut, used by some north-eastern Native American tribes such as the Wampanoag."Wigwams, also called wetus, were houses used by the Algonquian Indians who lived in the woodland regions. Wigwam means "house" in the Abenaki tribe and ...

(traditional domed hut) and a traditional Three Sisters garden with corn,

beans A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes thr ...

and

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

. There is also a forest and an outdoor Friendship Circle. The site of the museum was originally home to the Dovecrest Restaurant and Trading Post, founded by Eleanor and Ferris Dove. The Dove family donated their personal property soon thereafter to establish a permanent home for the museum. In 2003, Lorén Spears founded the Nuweetooun School on the site of the museum. It was a private school for grades K-8. Open to any student, it focused on Indigenous youth. Nuweetooun School was closed in Spring of 2010 due to damage from flooding. The museum is open on Wednesdays and on weekends.

References

External links

Official site
Museums in Washington County, Rhode Island Native American museums in Rhode Island Narragansett tribe Exeter, Rhode Island History museums in Rhode Island

See also

References

Further reading

External links