On August 11, the Mashantucket Pequot tribe opened the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, located seven miles from Mystic, Connecticut. This state-of-the-art facility provides an interactive display of the history of the native peoples of the area and the land on which they lived. Beginning 20,000 years ago with the development of the land and moving up to the present, the museum tells the story of how the native peoples lived and how they fought to regain the lands that were taken from them.
Not only does the museum have interactive displays, but it also contains a research library that will hold over 150,000 books and a 400-seat auditorium for film and live performances. One of the main goals of the museum and research center is to provide education to people about the native cultures and to encourage anyone who wants to learn about native cultures to visit and to do research.
The tribe, once close to extinction, has fought a long battle to reclaim what was once theirs. The land that the museum and research center sits on was granted to them in 1666 as a reservation, and they have lived there ever since. Since that time, they have managed to reclaim land that was taken from them, gain federal tribal recognition, rebuild their tribal culture, and develop an economic base.
For an online tour of the new facility and more information, please visit the Mashantucket Pequot web site.
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