Written by Ned Swigart
The Mission of the Institute for American Indian Studies (IAIS, formerly the American Indian Archaeological Institute) is to serve as a regional resource center to research, preserve and share over 10,000 years of American Indian history and culture. In this time of increasing ecological and social crises there is much to be learned from the American Indian about the obligation of human beings to one another, to Mother Earth and to our Creator.
The Institute was born of a "traditional" Indian vision granted to me by the Creator in 1971 while in my vegetable garden. I spent my summers before WW II in northeastern Wisconsin next to and on a Potawatomi-Ojibwa village on Partridge Lake. The Ojibwa lifeway became my guiding life-star. Along with co-founder Sidney Hessel, in three short years, we raised the money and enlisted the artisans and volunteers to build, endow, staff and run the Institute. The private support nationally and internationally from thousands of donors of many faiths was heartwarming, especially the overwhelming aid of Native Americans. They serve on our Board of Directors, various committees, as staff, volunteers and consultants. From our founding to this day Native Americans are an all-important source of wisdom and support.
The Institute is located off Route 199 in Washington, Connecticut, and is open 7 days a week year-round, 10 to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. To view the world from an Indian perspective on "forever wild" land is our goal. The Steep Rock Reservation, a 1,700-acre wilderness preserve, adjoins our borders. Together these beautiful properties have become a perfect tool for visitors and students to explore traditional Northeastern Indian lifeways, including one trail that highlights the Indians' use of plants for food, technology and medicine. Seasonal plant use trails are being reconstructed, and a Habitats Trail consisting of a tundra, northern Spruce Forest (taiga), a mixed hardwood-evergreen forest and a mid-Atlantic hardwood forest (all occupied by Indians living in Connecticut through history), is being refurbished. An outdoor, simulated archaeological site is also being restored.
Inside our building, and in the (soon to be completed) research-library-collections-office building, the theme of directly experiencing the "Indian Way" is continued. The main hall contains an exhibit designed by our Native American staff and friends that combines 10,000 year-old artifacts with contemporary artisans and voices. The relationship with the Great Creator and Mother Earth, and with one another, is the key IAIS uses in depicting Indian heritage, rather than the conventional time line focus of many exhibits. This theme is also carried over in the Longhouse-Classroom, where students and visitors can see and handle the materials used to furnish a pre-contact Indian "home." Nearby is a mural of an Indian village illustrating the daily routine of its occupants and a related media presentation. Films and illustrated talks are offered throughout the year as are traveling and local exhibits of Native American art and photography. The adjacent Alfred A. G. Darlow Exhibit Hall features Native American artists both displaying and selling their creations. The Museum Gift Shop includes works from some of these artists and many other items chosen for their authenticity.
More than 35,000 students annually from four states participate in educational programs, including overnight experiences for children of Indian descent. In all, thousands of people from 49 of the 50 states and over 60 foreign countries have visited the Center. Special Indian holiday festivals are shared with visitors, and an annual "Under the Sun" program of visiting Indian artisans is held in the early fall.
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