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? […]
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, May 18th1:00PM - 3:00PMNative American tribes and citizens have a unique place in the United States’ legal system. Tribes are considered “domestic dependent nations”, while individuals may be citizens of both the United States and their tribal nation. Stephen Pevar, retired Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU and current professor of Advanced Federal Indian […]
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 […]
Red Dress Installation at IAISFriday, May 3rd (1:00PM - 4:00PM)Saturday, May 4th (11:00AM - 4:00PM)Sunday, May 5th (11:00AM - 4:00PM)Each year, thousands of women, children, and 2 Spirit Native Americans go missing or are found murdered in the United States and Canada. Gaps in data make the true scope difficult to estimate, but the murder […]
Sunday, April 28th1:00PM - 2:30PM & 3:00PM - 5:30PMHave you ever wondered how traditional indigenous communities knew which types of materials to use for making tools, and how to source them? Join traditional skills expert and IAIS Head of Fabrication and Exhibit Production Griffin Kalin for a class in which he will focus on identifying […]
Saturday, April 20th 1:00PM - 3:00PM This is a Members Only Event Join us for our Annual Members’ Meeting, where we will formally elect our 2024 Officers and Trustees. Following, we invite you to join IAIS staff for an interactive workshop in which we will weave reed mats for use in our Replicated Algonkian Village. […]
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 […]
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, March 23rd 2:00PM - 4:00PM This is a Virtual Event. Gladys Tantaquidgeon (Mohegan) was a medicine woman, tribal elder, author, and anthropologist who helped to found the oldest tribally-owned museum in the United States, the Tantaquidgeon Museum, which is still located in Uncasville, CT to this day. This extraordinary culture keeper, who lived to […]
