INDIGENOUS HERITAGE

For more than 11,000 years before first contact with Europeans, native peoples lived in what is now New England. The fish and game they harvested and the crops they cultivated all remain important to this region today; likewise, many of the names they bestowed upon the lands and waters here remain, 400 years after the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Even more important, the culture of indigenous people lives on, as proud members of New England’s Algonquian tribes work to preserve their art, music, languages, and stories. Each of the New England states offers opportunities for you to learn about these traditions, and to support their preservation.

more than 12,000 years of Native American culture and history.

➼ Read more: DISCOVERNEWENGLAND .ORG/INDIGENOUS-HERITAGE

The largest Native American museum in the United States can be found in CONNECTICUT, where the Mashantucket Pequot Museum in Ledyard takes visitors on an interactive journey that begins with the last Ice Age and concludes with a close-up look at the tribe today. As owners of remarkably successful entertainment and hospitality businesses—including nearby Foxwoods, one of the largest resort casinos in North America—the Mashantucket Pequots continuously invest in telling their survival story in unique ways.

Visitors to MAINE can explore the story and culture of the Wabanaki tribe— “The People of the First Light”—at the Abbe Museum, which has two seasonal locations in Bar Harbor: a small outpost in Acadia National Park and a highly regarded Smithsonian-affiliated facility downtown. The museum’s collection of works by Wabanaki basket makers is particularly strong, and you can purchase finely woven baskets by some of today’s leading artisans.

CONNECTICUT: A dancer performs at Schemitzun, a summer harvest festival held on the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation.

People & Cultures