The Campaign for the
Tomaquag Museum
A place where the past transforms the future.
The Tomaquag Museum is different...
Since its founding in 1958, the Tomaquag Museum has been Indigenous-led and -staffed ... and that fact alone makes it special.
Our educators not only interpret for you the museum’s many cultural belongings ... they also share their own personal stories of growing up Indigenous in today’s America.
The Tomaquag experience is authentic ... and unforgettable. First-time visitors enter with their preconceptions and cultural stereotypes ... and leave profoundly moved, their attitudes forever changed.
Great expectations
The Tomaquag Museum has exceeded expectations in the eyes of experts for a very long time. In 2016, First Lady Michelle Obama presented the Tomaquag Museum with a National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The National Medal is the highest award U.S. museums and libraries can receive. Tomaquag is the only museum in Rhode Island so far to earn it.
Why a new museum now?
Because a story thousands of years in the making needs a lot of elbow room! Plus our growing collection of Indigenous belongings needs a safer home.
This was always our guarantee: a visit to Tomaquag would change your mind and heart.
America Awakens
Respect for diversity of all kinds is our greatest strength and our best hope. The new Tomaquag Museum will advance that conversation ... honestly and with plenty of research.
