Institute for American Indian Studies

Your support yields generational impact!

For this year’s Give Local we encourage you to support experiences that yield generational impact! Again and again, our staff and trustees hear personal stories about our museum’s influence, including parents who bring their children to experience the same place that once sparked their own curiosity and imagination. Thousands of students visit the museum on field trips each year, where interactive learning experiences leave a lasting impression. Community members discuss memorable moments at summer camp or an exciting event. Indigenous visitors and colleagues discuss cultural workshops or thoughtful exhibits that helped them reconnect with or share aspects of their culture. With your support, we can ensure that such experiences remain available to present and future generations for years to come.

As we embark on our museum’s next 50 years, we are developing new exhibits and programs to enhance our message. We recommit ourselves to teaching aspects of history that are often ignored, with input from contemporary Indigenous voices, as well as scholars across various disciplines. Your generous donations help support:

• 
  Craft Materials for Education Programs: Some schools choose to supplement their education programs with the addition of a craft to help their students remember their visit. There is a cost to materials, but the memories are priceless!

• 
  Exhibit Development: From time to time, our exhibits require updates to ensure that they remain accurate, engaging, and accessible for visitors of all ages and backgrounds. Support the cost of the research, consultation, and printing that goes into exhibit development.

• 
  Wigwam Repairs on our Replicated Algonkian Village: After a heavy winter, help us complete repairs to our wigwams so that they continue to be a valuable teaching tool for another season of field trips.

• 
  Camp Equipment and Scholarship Support: Help us purchase new equipment for summer camp and keep this memorable experience affordable for all families. 

• 
  Honoraria for Indigenous Presenters: Help us to provide honoraria that respect the time, expertise and lived experiences of Indigenous culture keepers, artists, and scholars.

With your support, we can continue to ethically honor Indigenous communities past, present, and future for generations to come.

Testimonials

"Our grandson has thoroughly enjoyed camp the last two years. The thoughtfulness, creativity and care that go into designing and delivering stimulating activities and adventures throughout the week is evident in the enthusiasm he brought home and the knowledge he is happy to share. Thank you so much to the entire team for a truly memorable experience!"

"This is my absolute favorite field trip of all time, and I've been teaching a long time. This amount of time between listening and interacting is perfect. Our educator was great! He chose appropriate questions for my class during the game and was patient with them. He stayed on time so we were able to get through it all on a tight schedule."

"Since it opened [at the Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum], No Rest: The Epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirits exhibit has created considerable interest, generated ongoing media coverage, and resulted in a drastic increase in museum visitors, school tours, group tours, and educational workshops and lectures for local government agencies, community groups, and social justice organizations."

Who We Are

IAIS preserves and educates through discovery and creativity the diverse traditions, vitality and knowledge of Native American cultures.

Located in Washington, Connecticut, the Institute for American Indian Studies (IAIS)—formerly the American Indian Archaeological Institute (AIAI)—was incorporated in 1975 as an outgrowth of local efforts to recover New England's then-largely-unknown indigenous history. Since then, IAIS has surveyed or excavated over 500 sites, including the remarkable discovery of a 10,000-year-old camp site—the earliest known archaeological site in Connecticut. But archaeology is about so much more than excavating sites or collecting stone tools: it is about people. Through archaeology, we are able to build new understandings of the world and history of Native Americans. This history echoes throughout all history and informs us in the present. With full awareness of the importance of keeping this knowledge alive, the focus of the Institute has always been stewardship and preservation. Today, IAIS continues to be a 501(c)3 museum and research center dedicated to providing unique, informative and engaging experiences for our members and visitors alike. It is our members who keep us moving forward and striving to provide the best events, workshops and activities possible. In addition to annual support from members, IAIS reaches out to foundations and corporations for grant and funding opportunities...