Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum was established over 50 years ago by Eva Butler an anthropologist with the guidance of the late Princess Red Wing (Narragansett/Wampanoag), and is Rhode Island’s only museum entirely dedicated to telling the story of the state’s Indigenous Peoples. Tomaquag, located in historic Arcadia Village in Exeter since the early 70’s, is also the only Rhode Island museum operated by Native people. It originated in Tomaquag Valley, a hamlet inside the village of Ashaway in the town of Hopkinton, RI.
The Museum has a unique collection of over 20,000 cultural objects along with hundreds of thousands of pieces of archival materials focusing on the Native peoples of New England and Rhode Island. The Museum is well-respected among Rhode Island's and New England's cultural museums, and is visited each year by travelers from across the United States and throughout the world.
Regular visits by Native professionals, artists, storytellers and others add many perspectives to each visitor's discovery of the world at Tomaquag. Our special programs share Native perspectives on traditional health and well-being, education, history, culture and the Indigenous arts. Classes on beadwork, pottery, herbal holistic healing, and painting are held regularly. Presentations for the public through our offsite programs, lectures, and cultural presentations bring our culture, traditional arts, and history to the public at large. Tomaquag’s other educational programs include specialized tours, Native games, Indigenous foods, Ecology of Mother Earth and Eastern Woodland Slide Presentations, Educator's Workshops, conferences, and contemporary issues and events.
