Saturday, March 2nd 11:00AM - 4:00PM Looking for a sweet end to the winter months? As the days get warmer, but the nights remain cold, it’s the right condition for maple sugaring! Join IAIS staff for an event celebrating the gift of Maple Sugar. Throughout the day, IAIS Museum Educator and Ecologist Susan Scherf will […]
Sunday, March 17th 1:00PM - 3:00PM The IAIS Education Department frequently offers family-friendly educational workshops on Sunday afternoons. This year, many of our Sunday Fun Day workshops feature the teachings of trees and the power of plants, which indigenous communities have been carefully stewarding for thousands of years. For this month’s workshop, we’re focusing on […]
Sunday, March 30th 11:00AM - 2:00PM Did you know: the word moccasin comes from the Algonkian word meaning shoe or footwear? Traditional Native American clothing varies widely from tribe to tribe, but nearly one universal element has been the moccasin. This sturdy slipper-shaped type of shoe was sewn from tanned animal hides. Join Darlene Kascak, […]
Saturday, April 13th 10:00AM - 1:00PM Native peoples traditionally recognized that all beings are related and that animals and plants can be our teachers. With the changes in the season, you might be seeing and hearing different sights and sounds if you take a walk in the woodland environment. Join IAIS Educator and Ecologist Susan […]
Saturday, May 11th1:00PM - 3:00PMFor thousands of years, many Native peoples have decorated clothing and items with materials found in nature, such as shell, stones, seeds and porcupine quills. In more recent centuries, multi-colored glass beads have become a favorite medium, as well. Join artist and educator Eva Newell (Pokanoket Tribe, Pokanoket Nation) for a […]
Sunday, June 2nd10:00AM - 12:00PM Did you know that late spring and early summer is the best season to peel bark off of a tree? As such, it was the ideal time for local Native American communities to build and repair their traditional dwellings, crafts baskets, and make cordage for use in tool making and […]
Saturday, June 8th11:00AM - 4:00PM As part of the 20th annual Connecticut Open House Day, visit the Institute for American Indian Studies to learn about the more than 12,000-year history of Connecticut’s Native American inhabitants. Museum educators and docents will be offering introductory tours of the museum and replicated Algonkian village. Want a deeper dive? […]
Saturday, June 15th10:00AM - 12:00PM;1:00PM - 3:00PM For thousands of years, Native communities in the Eastern Woodlands lived in villages consisting of dome-shaped structures called wigwams, made out of saplings, bark and/or reeds. Our Replicated Algonkian Village is an important exhibit and teaching tool that thousands of students and visitors experience every year. Just as […]
Saturday, June 22nd10:00AM - 12:00PM Join Richard Chrisjohn (Oneida) for an interesting and informative workshop in which participants will make an elm bark rattle or bark rattle necklace. Chrisjohn is a fourth generation woodcarver who lives on the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, Akwesasne, in Hogansburg, New York. Chrisjohn is also an advocate for Indigenous sovereignty […]
Saturday, July 20th1PM - 3PM For thousands of years, indigenous communities have used natural fibers to make everything from shelter, to fishing equipment, to clothing. Join IAIS Educator and Ecologist Susan Scherf for an exciting and educational workshop in which participants will learn about various plant fibers. Try your hand at weaving cordage from locally […]
