Stories From Native America: Children’s Books From Across the Northeast

Hello, my name is Haley Johnson and welcome to the Belongings Blog! I am the Indigenous Empowerment Network Intern here at the Tomaquag Museum. I belong to the Mashpee Wampanoag Nation and will be graduating from Rhode Island College in Spring 2021 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts concentrating in Ceramics and Art History.

Storytelling has always played a large role in Native communities. Traditionally, these stories help to pass down cultural knowledge and understanding from generation to generation. Now, we use them to educate all who are willing to learn. With todays social distancing and quarantine woes, I thought I would share some book recommendations for our young readers.

Tomaquag MuseumMarch 29, 2021Comment

From the Archives: Dovecrest Restaurant & Thanksgiving

Hello and Happy Thanksgiving! Welcome to the Belongings Blog’s next installment of the From the Archives series, in which our Archivist Anthony Belz shares some of the more interesting materials found in the Tomaquag Museum archival collections. This fifth installment is lengthy and focuses on the Dovecrest Restaurant which was located in Exeter, Rhode Island adjacent to where the Tomaquag Museum is today. The Dovecrest Restaurant was an award winning and well renowned Indigenous cultural and culinary fixture in southern Rhode Island from 1963 until its closure in 1984.

Food Sovereignty, Tomaquag HistoryTomaquag MuseumNovember 26, 2020Tomaquag MuseumIndigenous FoodwaysComment

From the Archives: Leonda Hardison

This story begins a few years ago when Narragansett Tribal Elder Dawn Dove donated her own personal signed copy of a vinyl record by a recording artist Leonda entitled, Woman in the Sun (1968). A wonderful donation for the collection-not only because the archive does not have very many vinyl records but it is also signed by the artist, which as something an archivist who is trying to build a archive here at the Tomaquag made this record unique and immediately worth preserving. In this installment, we’ll see how a worn vinyl record in the archives led us to discover the music of Leonda Hardison and her performance at the dedication of the “New Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum” in 1972.

Indigenous Musicians, Indigenous Artists, ArchivesTomaquag MuseumSeptember 30, 2020ArchivesComment

Census 2020: History of Indigenous Invisibility-Be Counted!

The United States Census Bureau, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic had initially extended the 2020 enumeration timeline from October 31, but has now shortened it to September 30, 2020, which reduces the counting period by 31 days. The extended time was initially allotted to create additional access for Enumerators but since the pandemic had closed so many scheduled outreach events, it completely reduced community gatherings and stopped most door to door data collection. This shortened deadline will not only affect the overall accuracy of the 2020 Census calculations, but it will undoubtedly impact Indigenous communities the hardest, as historically Indigenous people are drastically under counted by astronomical numbers compared with other populations in the United States.

Indigenous Rights, Census 2020Tomaquag MuseumSeptember 11, 2020Tomaquag MuseumIndigenous, Census, Indigenous Rights

Pursuit of Happiness: Environmental Justice & Indigenous Rights Student Short Film Series

During the Fall 2019 semester at Brown University, a course was co-taught by Ronald Potvin, PhD., & Lorén Spears, MsEd. titled; Pursuit of Happiness: Environmental Justice & Indigenous Rights. As part of their final project students created short films based on the course discussions. The four films are posted below with quotes from some of the students to accompany each video.

Student Statement: “We explored Indigenous survivance in the face of colonial ecological exploitation and violence. Indigenous self-determination and healing entails fighting for access to land and resources, ensuring environmental health, and preserving lifeways.”

Environmental Justice, Indigenous RightsTomaquag MuseumAugust 21, 2020Tomaquag MuseumComment

From The Archives: Chief Poking Fire Museum

Hello and welcome to the third installment of the Tomaquag Museum’s Belongings Blog, From the Archives series, in which our Archivist Anthony Belz will share some of the interesting items found in the Tomaquag Museum’s archival collections. This installment features a small color Instamatic photograph of the exterior of the Chief Poking Fire Museum located in Quebec, Canada.

From the Archives: Princess Red Wing Television Interview, December 19, 1971

Welcome to the next installment in the Belongings Blog’s new series, From the Archives where we’ll share some interesting things found in the Tomaquag Museum’s archival collections. In this installment, our Archivist Anthony Belz will highlight a cassette tape recording of a television interview with Princess Red Wing (Mary E. Gongdon) from WHDA in Boston on December 19, 1971.

From the Archives: Prairie Fire Mural

Welcome to the inaugural installment of From the Archives, a new series in the Belongings Blog where our Archivist and Collections Manager Anthony Belz will be sharing some of the interesting items he has found in the Tomaquag Museum collections.

When you visited Tomaquag Museum did you ever notice the large mural on the wall at the far end of the museum? Or have you seen it in a photograph or film from one of our events and wondered what was there? In this post we’ll tell you the interesting history of this amazing and enduring mural that has been a feature in this building for around 60 years.

Tomaquag MuseumApril 13, 2020Tomaquag MuseumComment