Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center

October

Opens October 14

Native Waters Exhibit Explores a Vital Resource
From Scientific and Cultural Perspectives

MASHANTUCKET – The new special exhibition titled Native Waters: Sharing the Source that opens on Sunday October 14 at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum incorporates science, art, film and Native American cultural traditions to increase awareness and respect for water resources.

Designed to represent a tipi, the display presents an engaging opportunity to learn about the importance of water through storytelling, audio and video presentations, and hands-on activities and science programs. A recreated spring inside the tipi symbolizes the relation between ground and surface water, and the tipi’s wall banners detail Native beliefs and perspectives on this important resource. The outer wall is a mural of headwaters of the Missouri River.

Designed by the Native Waters project at Montana State University in cooperation with the Science Museum of Minnesota for use in schools and community centers, the exhibit includes a half-hour film, “A Dream for Water,” that highlights examples of people who are making a difference in protecting their environment. Lyrical and mystical, the film traces the journey of a young Native girl as she discovers the wonder of water as it flows from her mountain home to the sea.

One of several interactive components involves constructing a model watershed to appreciate how it consists not only of land and water, but also animals, plants, people and all that we build on it and add to it. Visitors can also try to guide a marble “raindrop” to a drinking fountain without polluting it along its path from the ground past potential contaminants, such as an animal feedlot.
The exhibit’s goal is that visitors gain a renewed appreciation for “the sacred source of life.” It runs through December 30, 2007.
The exhibit, the 19th featured in the 4,200-square-foot Mashantucket Gallery, is free with regular museum admission. Recently recognized as a “must see” by the Yankee Magazine Travel Guide to New England, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum is open daily 10-4, last admission at 3 p.m. Call 800-411-9671 for a calendar of upcoming events or visit www.pequotmuseum.org.

Staff led, half-hour exhibit tours every Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. beginning October 20

Saturday, October 27
Native Authors & Illustrators
share their stories, books, cultures and images as they examine the special relationship they have in the creative process. Working together, authors and illustrators make words come alive through their collaborative art. Tim Tingle and Jeanne Rorex-Bridges discuss their acclaimed Choctaw tale about friendship and freedom, Crossing Bok Chitto, winner of seven book awards and under consideration for several others, including the Paterson Prize. Deborah Duvall and Murv Jacob talk about the creation of The Grandmother Stories, touted by Oklahoma Book Award judges as “creatively preserved traditional Cherokee legends,” as well as the many other books they have worked together on. Learn how literature happens from the source, in the Gathering Space: Duvall and Jacob from 11 am to noon; book signing from noon to 1 pm; Rorex-Bridges and Tingle from 1 to 2 pm. Free with Museum admission, free to Museum members. Books will be available from the authors and in the Museum Store.

Saturday, October 27
The Art of Storytelling
Join workshop leader and storyteller Trudie Lamb Richmond (Schaghticoke) as she examines the purpose and techniques of this age-old art, which can strengthen language development and stimulate students’ imaginations. Discover the role that entertaining tales can play in the classroom educational process. Workshop includes an afternoon roundtable discussion with Native authors and illustrators Tim Tingle, Jeanne Rorex-Bridges, Debra Duvall and Murv Jacob, who discuss their collaborative efforts in creating compelling literature for young people. From 9:30 am to 4 pm in the CL&P Classroom, $35/$25 for Museum members, .6 CEUs, limited to 25, call 800-411-9671 to register. Participants can bring a bag lunch.

Saturdays in October & Nov. 3, 10 &17
Scout Workshops
These two-hour workshops combine a guided exhibit tour with a fun-filled, hands-on program and are designed for scouts of all ages to help meet badge requirements. The fee of $11 per scout includes museum admission for the day. Workshops offered at 10 am and 1 pm each day in the CL&P Classroom, call (860) 396-6839 to register. Topics to choose from are:

Fishing Without Poles: How Native people harvested fish

From the Earth: What stones made the best spear points and tools?

Petroglyphs: Images in Stone: Learn about and make one of these ancient rock carvings

Digging into the Past: Discover what archaeologists learn from the past’s trash

The Truth about Wampum: Read Wampum belts and discover its original meaning

What’s a Plant?: Discover 6 plants used by Native Americans

Puppet Theater: Cautantowwit’s Garden: Act out the traditional story of how corn came to the Pequots

Native American Sports and Games: Play traditional games and learn their cultural importance