The Institute for American Indian Studies (IAIS) seeks to provide resources for the preservation and resurgence of Indigenous knowledge and lifeways. From its inception, IAIS has worked to foster a bridge between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. Today, our Indigenous-led educational programming provides thousands of museum visitors and K-12 students, the majority of whom are non-Indigenous, with an understanding of Indigenous perspectives. For the past decade, our knowledgeable Education Department has been restructured by Darlene Kascak, Schaghticoke Tribal Nation (STN), and is now led by Irene Norman (Mohawk descent). During this time, IAIS has become a critical site of learning about decolonial histories for non- Indigenous Americans, as well as a site of research and cultural revitalization in support of Indigenous peoples.

Originally named the American Indian Archaeological Institute (AIAI), the Institute for American Indian Studes began in 1975 as a collaborative research hub between Indigenous (see our Hall of Elders) and non-Indigenous archaeologists and community members in western Connecticut. Through various partnerships and collaborations, IAIS has surveyed or excavated over 500 sites, including the remarkable discovery of an 11,000-year-old camp site – one of the earliest known archaeological sites in Connecticut. Excavations are done in consultation with local tribal groups. When AIAI became the Institute of American Indian Studies in 1991, the focus of the organization shifted to incorporate education and outreach alongside research to encourage more growth and development. Regrettably, a decade of financial mismanagement and disrespectful treatment of local Indigenous leaders had devastating consequences. Since 2000, IAIS has worked to repair broken relationships and rebuild trust with its Indigenous communities by supporting and advocating for Indigenous cultural revitalization. IAIS seeks to create a community space for local Indigenous people where they can feel welcome, respected, and at home. Our annual Veteran’s Day ceremony, which has taken place for nearly thirty years, honors Indigenous veterans of the armed forces. As appropriately articulated by our Education Outreach Ambassador Darlene Kascak (STN), “Truthful acknowledgment of our past is crucial to building mutual respect.”

IAIS remains dedicated to educating the public and K-12 students about more than 12,000 years of Indigenous accomplishments and vibrant Native American lifeways. Annually, we host Indigenous speakers and expert presenters on topics ranging from traditional music and art to history and modern politics to issues developing within Indigenous communities. We also convene a monthly virtual book club – As They Speak: Native Voices in Today’s Literature – that is open to the public and attracts an international audience. Darlene Kascak (STN), Education Outreach Ambassador, joined representatives from Connecticut’s five recognized Tribal Nations on a state education council tasked with reconciling Indigenous history within public school curriculums. Schools with predominantly non-Indigenous students in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts annually participate in field trips to IAIS to benefit from Indigenous-led education programming and exhibits. Both public and private K-12 schools from across the nation contact IAIS looking for reliable and accurate information, while universities and museums reach out to our research staff to access our collections and learn more about local cultural landscapes and vibrant Indigenous lifeways.

Recent IAIS exhibits have focused on Indigenous survival after Euro-American occupation. They include:

• Uncivil Education – an exhibit on federal Native American boarding schools
• I is for Indian – a traveling exhibit focused on negative and damaging stereotypes
• The Creator’s Game – a history of lacrosse as an Indigenous sport and its role as a method of asserting sovereignty
• No Rest – a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives exhibit.
• naqutiwowok / continuance: Connecticut’s Tribal Communities Create – curated by Connecticut’s five Tribal Nations the exhibit first appeared at the Florence Griswold Museum and includes artists from Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett, Eastern Pequot, Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes.

Within its Research and Collections Department, IAIS manages over 300,000 archaeological artifacts, ranging in age from over 12,500 years before present to the 21st century, that represent hundreds of Native American societies throughout the western Hemisphere. IAIS also manages over 6,000 post-European contact ethnographic items. Since many of these ethnographic materials were collected by non-Indigenous settlers under unethical circumstances, IAIS strives to return cultural artifacts to their descendent communities. Research staff oversee our collection, consult on exhibits, and have published on collaborative research efforts. Director Emerita of Research and Collections, Dr. Lucianne Lavin, is the author of Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples: What Archaeology, History, and Oral Traditions Teach Us About Their Communities and Cultures and also the forthcoming historical book New England, Between Two Wars and Two Rivers. Our research staff have hosted 18 annual Native American Archaeology Roundtables, on topics that range from 2020 “Martians, Atlantians, and Lost Tribes: Psueodoarchaeology and its impact on Native American studies” to “The Benefits of Multiple Perspectives for Interpreting our Local History and Cultural Heritage: Decolonizing Archaeology and Museum Studies”.