Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center

5/22/24: A Hidden Gem!
Excellent museum with a great educational learning experience about the Native American Pequot Indians.

We were fortunate to follow a middle school group led by a docent who was an ancestor of the Pequots.
If I remember correctly, the guide was a grandson of a chief.
The guide had a great way of speaking to the kids.
Of course, there were a couple of smart aleck kids.
The guide was very professional and didn't put up with any nonsense.
Overall, the guide was very informative. Bravo to him!

During our visit, we sat in a theatre and viewed, "The Witness". It's a half hour film that dramatizes the events of the Pequot War, 1636-38, including the massacre of approximately 600 Pequots at Mystic in 1637.
"The Witness" is quite a riveting and important short film to watch, particularly in these times of hatred.

We walked the through a Pequot Indian village.
The highly detailed village was setup in a virtual like display.
The entire museum is very visually detailed.

In addition, there's a Hall of Fame room with photos of famous people who have native Pequot ancestry.

There's so much to see.

Admissions range from $13.00 to $22.00.

The museum has a café, but it was closed.

The Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center is located at 110 Pequot Trail. Mashantucket, CT.
It's very close to the Foxwoods Casino.

WiFi and even data usage for GPS is somewhat spotty in the outside surrounding area. You might want to check out directions ahead of time.

A couple of large parking areas are available on the museum grounds.

Back when I was a kid, my parents took me to the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and I remember thinking the place was so cool... now many many years later, I decided to visit again, and found it just as interesting! Here's the scoop on this awesome museum:

The museum is located just a couple minutes away from Foxwoods Casino. There's a very large parking lot, though it is some distance away from the building. Admission tickets are $25 for adults, or cheaper for senior, students, and children.

Once inside, you walk into a large open lobby (called the "Gathering Space") where they often host special events. This is "Level 3" on the map. There's a gift shop on this level, and a cafe upstairs, though the cafe was closed when I was there (their website says it's temporarily closed). There's also an 18-story observation tower that you can pay an extra fee to go up in, though it was also closed when I went, and so I'm not sure what the hours are for this or the cost (it's not listed on their website and I didn't bother to ask when I was there).

To see the exhibits, you can take either the elevator or ramp down to Level 2, where you'll find a scale model of the Mashantucket Pequot reservation, as well as some small displays and photographs of modern-day tribal life. As you continue on, you'll take the escalator to Level 1 (the very lowest level), where you'll find displays of native art and creation stories.

Next you'll enter "Life in a Cold Climate" where you'll see cool life-sized models of large animals that once roamed New England, like the mastodon, giant beaver, and dire wolves. There's also a life-size diorama showing an ancient caribou hunt. Further down the hall are exhibits about ancient tools.

By far the coolest part of the museum is the Pequot Village! This village includes life-cast figures of Native American people wearing traditional clothing, and taking part in various tasks of daily life like cooking, talking, weaving, working, etc. You'll see an actual waterfall, trees, campfires, wigwams, and more! It truly feels like you're in a Pequot village! There are audioguide speakers available to narrate everything that you're seeing.

As you finish up with the exhibits, you'll end by learning about what life on and off the reservation was like from the 1600's all the way up to the 1980's. It was eye opening to see how the government tried to take the tribal land from the Pequot's and created regulations that made it difficult for them to build homes on their own property.

Overall, this museum gives you an amazing perspective of Native American history, and displays it in a way that people of all ages will enjoy. I would highly recommend checking it out!

Everyone should absolutely come and visit this museum. Everyone.

I have been to many, MANY museums. And this one is now by far one of the most impressive I've ever been to. The stream that runs through the exhibits on the first floor is incredible. Walking through the village replica is like being transported in time. I don't think I have enough words to even describe how in awe I was the whole time I visited here yesterday.

Incredible. You will leave with a deep sense of understanding and respect. Life changing museum. Thank you.

Beautiful, informative, interactive exhibits. Friendly and helpful staff. My 6 year old was enthralled with everything and had a great time in the interactive real life exhibit. We learned so much- about the deep indigenous roots that deserve a louder voice today! Highly recommend to educate ourselves about the past of this land and it's people. We also loved the view tower!

A hidden gem in Connecticut! It's really a must-see. It's located right behind Foxwoods.

Highlights of this place , aside from the lovely staff :
- an 18 storey observation tower
- a beautiful lobby with flags from native tribes all over North America
- an interactive map of the land so you can see where everything on the property
- an exhibit on the ice age and how that affected the land and the tribes

There are also a couple of movie rooms but we did not get a chance to enjoy them. Our son has a short attention span :)

My absolute favorite exhibit is the room Creation stories and art that goes with it!!

You also learn about hunting and basket weaving. It's just so informative and wonderful. There's something for everyone!

As an FYI they will be closed soon until the Spring. So be sure to keep this place in mind come March.

We arrived a little bit too late to be able to go through the museum at reasonable pace to see everything so we have to come back sometime in the future. My 99-year-old grandmother was with us so our pace would be slow.

They stop selling tickets at 4:00 p.m. and close at 5:00 p.m.

One of the Tips indicated that a guide could have walked us through in about an hour but the front desk did not offer that as an option to us so I'm assuming the guide was not available at the time we arrived.

Nevertheless, we were allowed to see everything there was to see on the main level and also visit the gift shop without having to purchase tickets to the museum.

Went here today had a great time. Some of the exhibits look beat from the ages. The attendance was low but I kind of liked it that way. I walked in $20 adult / $12 child. I see a sign for $5 per person guided tour. It was a 1 hour tour where they lead you room by rooms and bring the story of the people to life. Thank you tour-guide Chris, you made the day for me maybe not as much for the kid but certainly for me. We then took went up to the observation tower which I'm sure would be an even more amazing site once all the trees comes out. Then in an odd sort of progression we went through the whole tour a second time this time by ourselves. This allowed us to go in armed with the knowledge from Chris and read the signs on exhibits and stop for video screens and really bring it home. This was truly and educational day.

I've been to the museum three times. I can say that each time I have gone there, I am moved by the level of craftsmanship and creativity that was part of the creation of this location.

Somewhat political in orientation, I still recognize its value for those who struggle to claim ancestral lands for themselves.

You will absolutely be amazed at the realistic figurines and settings and the historical accuracy of how indigenous people struggled to survive.

I do have one criticism that is keeping me at three stars, and that is something that I have never seen before. I heard some staff members try to blame the Covid pandemic, but I don't think that's as much the fault, as somebody has simply stopped minding the store.

Even in a pandemic, the amount of money that has been amassed by the Pequots, since the inception of the casino, should have ample budgeted dollars, to keep the museum up and running in top condition for years to come.

For the first time, during the visit there yesterday, I noticed information terminals at various exhibits that were non-functioning; I saw one movie room where the large screen was inoperative and a smaller screen was being used; and even something as simple as hand sanitizer canisters that were not usable any longer because they had run out of the sanitizer product.

I also heard from the ladies who came with us yesterday, that the bathrooms were in sad condition.

Yet in spite of these problems, I saw four or five staff are standing around and just chatting with each other. Nobody doing anything that I could see, of any consequence.

This is one of those moments when I could easily find myself saying something like, "if I was in charge......"

Personally, if I was indeed in charge, those types of problems would not go unfixed for any length of time. It shows a little bit of a lack of pride, which is 180° off of the message of the pride that the Pequots have for their people and their tribal lands.

Just sayin....

GOSH... if you've been to the exhibit at Foxwoods come Back This place is AWSOME to say the least. We took several hours to complete our visit but well worth it It is a beautiful well laid out museum I have been to most of the museums in NYC and this is Right up there..or better really tells their story. the attached pictures do it no justice Some of the exhibits show Tribal Life and are So lifelike...

This is fairly easy to find and you do get a discount is you have a AAA card. Their site says most people spend about 3 1/2 hours here and although we didn't plan it, that is what my wife and I did, although there was a lot more to see, after that long we needed a break.

The top floor starts with a display on the modern tribe and how they have progressed. You then go down to the 2nd level where you go through the ice age. The reconstructed animals were so lifelike looking that had a dire wolf turned to talk to me I wouldn't have been the least surprised.

Down to the next level there is a huge area given over to a reconstructed village where you can walk around and using a hand held audio guide be told what you're looking at. Beyond that they go into the war that led do the decimation of the Pequots with an attempt to give a balanced view of the conflict. From here you could go on to learn about Pequots in 19th and 20th century America and...we didn't. 3 1/21 hours without sitting through any of the movies offered and we needed to get out, get a break it was too much to do in one go.

Some reviewers here speak well of the cafeteria, I wouldn't know if looked closed when we were there, VERY closed and likewise the gift shop was a shambles. A sign said to excuse the appearance while they restock but there huge open space and even with areas cordoned off the room gave the feeling of too much space for too little action. The books were particularly disappointing as I expected or hoped for books on native imagery or folklore, the sort of things that would build on what I had learned in the museum already and instead there were some children's books and a few standards of Indian activism like "bury my heart at wounded knee."

What this place needs more than anything is staff/guides/docents something. much of this you walk through on your own but if you have a question there's no one to ask anything of. As we walked down a long ramp to the 2nd floor my wife noticed a line of trash bins and wondered if the roof was leaking. There was someone at the bottom of the ramp to direct people and I asked if the roof leaked.
"No those are for our visitors."
"Oh we can drop our trash in there?" I said thinking of a few scraps I could be free of.
"No." and there was no further explanation.

The viewing tower is free but seems to highlight what I found most disheartening about the place. The windows outside the elevator going up were grimy in places and when you got to the top the view is, limited. Although the museum in on a slight rise it is still about dead center of the reservation and mostly in a bowl. I'm sure in fall the leaves are spectacular but you can't really see far and the elevator supports block a good part of the view. much of what you can see if the casino complex, a facility which looks like the love child of Walt Disney and a legomaniac and seems completely at odds with their ancestor's protection of the environment.

This was interesting and it was educational but it was a bit much and too intense it is NOT a place for small children unless they have a guide. I was learning stuff at the village but even I was getting tired of walking around holding and audio guide to my head, a small child/ forget it.