Mashantucket Pequot Museum

Went here with my 7 year old son and we were thrilled! We really felt immersed in the culture of the Native American and walked away a greater understanding of their daily life. My son said that he enjoyed the Glacier the most! It’s kind of a «4D» experience in that you feel the coldness, the dampness, and dripping water as you enter the glacier. For me, the best part was the village! Life sized Native Americans hunting, fishing, building their wigwams, playing, taking care of their family etc etc. It was really fascinating and very, very life-​like! (definitely use the hand-​held device when you go in which provides you with information regarding each exhibit) It also talked a lot about how the Native Americans experienced the Europeans coming to America. We would definitely recommend this to all families with children of all ages!
As an aside, we stayed over night at the «Two Trees Inn» which is part of Foxwoods hotel
(3 minutes away from the museum). It was neat and clean and also had it’s own restaurant. Always ask for an upgrade! We were able to upgrade to a suite! which, oddly, ended up costing less! Even the check-​in person didn’t understand why:)

I love this Museum! It’s always a great time and I love going through the exhibits. I withheld 1 star this time because there was vomit on the grating as you walked through the ice age portion of the museum.

Very beautiful museum with so much history! We went with our 2 and 6 year old kids and their grandparents. We all enjoyed this museum. The movie at the end is definitely a must see!

Connecticut may be the 3^rd smallest state in the United States, however for a state this small it holds more than its shares of merits. It has the largest acre dedicated to maritime pertinence (Mystic Seaport), 2^nd largest indoor casino (Foxwoods Casino), and the largest museum or facility dedicated to the culture of the Native Americans.
This is the godmother of museums in the 21^st century, it is very well simulated, and highly interactive. The initiation of the museum feels like a dark ride at a amusement park as you descend down a escalator and you see a wall that is totally replicated into massive amounts of snow portraying the ice age. As you enter into the museum you see a revolving globe of how the earth evolved through the millenniums. Because the museum is so enormous, at times didactic, along with so many artifacts, tools, and technology it is so hard to describe the museum as a whole in a Unilocal description. Also I don’t want to give out too much information, I want all of you to come to this place with surprise and intrigue. Have fun and check this place out when you are in the area !

If you are panning to visit, you may want to consider this review.
Overall this place represents Native culture in the same way a mall in suburban Arkansas represents US culture.
It is not really a museum more than it is a series of staged historical scenes and somewhat interesting dioramas, including a nice caribou hunt scene and Pequot village.
The figures and environments are done very well, but this is not a museum in that this place has very few (if any) historical artifacts, contemporary pieces, educational spaces, or art of any kind or from any era. The total collection of objects could fit in a suitcase, but it is housed in a space the size of an airport.
In one small screening room there was a very well-​done short film on traditional tool making, but you could have watched this on youtube and saved the «museum’s» exorbitant $ 20 entrance fee.
Structurally the space is also far too large. It seems like the developers had far too much money and far too much land on which to develop. So what they produced is a cross between a chain-​hotel, a suburban event center, and an airport. The size of this place also means you have to walk long distances with very little to see along the way.
The «café» and diner serves low quality fried food and mass-​produced junk food. The coffee tasted like brown water (yes, brown does not have a flavor). I felt like I was sitting in a food court in some abandoned suburban mall or hotel in the middle of the country.
The overlook tower is a tall piece of concrete with a tiny platform that is cramped and you have to wait to fill one tiny elevator to get back down.
Also, most windows have a view of a garish giant casino that looks like a cross between an asylum and a mall built in the 1990s. The types of people who go to casinos are also incredible sad, which contributed to this visit being depressing in so many ways.
I wanted to enjoy my visit here, but it was pointless and depressing. You might as well stay on the highway and head toward a museum in Providence or to any of the well-​done museums in Boston, which is only an hour north of this sad location.

As someone who works at a highly rated museum, my expectations were set pretty high. I read reviews before coming here. I was not disappointed. This is a great museum, full of great exhibits and dioramas. My favorite part was the recreated Pequot village. I also recommend checking out the observation tower that gives you a great view of the surrounding forest and neighboring Foxwoods.
I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about Native Americans as well as people who are staying at Foxwoods. There’s more to this resort than slots and blackjack!

One of the best museums I’ve been to. Plan on spending at least 2 hours there. We paid $ 5 for a tour. Our guide George was well versed with the museum and gave us a general overview of the museum before we took our time going went through again. Anyway, I would highly recommend going to get an education on the native Americans.

A great Museum! Interactive exhibits. Everything Native American from thousands of years till now. They had a globe which showed the demise of glaciers through thousands of years. Multi-​leveled and covered many attributes of the Native Americans. Pay the extra $ 5.00 for the guided tour.

I didn’t get a chance to really delve into the exhibits because I was chasing a toddler, but this seemed like a pretty rich, informative museum. The pequot village part was pretty cool. Less actual artifacts than I would expect, but that was apparently somewhat intentional. The photos of tribe members at the end were kind of surprising to me in their diversity.
The snack bar should take a lesson from the national museum of the american indian and offer some more interesting snacks. When we showed up it was kind of lame.

Great time with family, educational and entertaining. I learned a lot, interesting history and wonderful exhibits. My kids said this was the best part of their trip Connecticut. After you pay and go down to the exhibit, did find the lady checking receipts a bit brash. No biggie/​we had a great time and enjoyed our afternoon.

The museum is really well done with a ton of detail. We spent about 3 hours there but you can easily spend more than that. There is an overwhelming amount of information so after awhile it can get hard to take it all in. They should let you come back the next day as some museums do. You would retain more information that way. Overall this is very nice museum.
My only complaint is that if they are not going to let you bring drinks in, they need more water fountains around. I am someone who needs water with me all the time and ended up feeling very dehydrated during our time there. Most of the exhibits are on level 1 and the only fountain is all the way at the end, through the huge main exhibit, the Pequot village, the war room. This is pretty far and not practical to keep going back and forth. I understand not bringing in food or even juice, but there is no reason why people can’t bring their water bottle in with them. There should be at least one fountain in the main exhibit area.

On October 3, at the Pequot museum, I experienced the worst treatment I’ve ever received as a paying customer. Midway through the recommended visitors’ route is an auditorium which shows a film about local 17^th century warfare. The showtimes are irregular and are only posted on the door of the auditorium (not at the museum entrance or on the handout visitors are given), so visitors have no way of planning ahead to arrive at the start of a show. There is nothing to say late entrance is not allowed. I happened to reach there only a couple of minutes after the film had started. As I reached to open the door, a woman seated on the opposite side of the otherwise deserted hallway, who was dressed in ordinary clothes and not wearing any kind of badge or ID, and who was sipping a paper cup of coffee (what? yes, inside the museum — strange) called out, «management doesn’t want you to go in there.» I said, «what?» She repeated, «management doesn’t want you to go in there — the film has already started.» I walked over to where she was sitting and said, «The management? The same management who –» At this point, she interrupted me – not even allowing me to get one sentence out — and said, «You can’t talk to me that way.» I said, «You spoke to me first. I’m just trying to say — «and then she again interrupted me, saying, «I’m going to go up front and get you thrown out right now! You are a loser!,» and walked away, in the direction of the exit. As she left, I said, «Just leave me alone!» That is the sum total of what I said. I never threatened her verbally, physically, or in any other way. I then walked into the theater, sat down, and began quietly watching the film. Several other visitors entered the theater after I did. Someone in the audience was loudly shouting comments, such as «that’s my home town!» but no one attempted to quiet or eject him. In about five minutes, a man walked up behind me and ordered me to come with him. This turned out to be a security guard. The guard did not ask me any questions. He also several times refused to answer the questions I asked him as we walked. The woman was standing in the hallway as we exited the theater, but she walked away again before I could speak to her about what was happening. The guard never attempted to learn my version of what had happened. Before he even spoke to me, he had decided that he was going to make me leave the museum. When we reached the ticket counter, I stated that I wanted to speak to the person in charge. The guard stated that he was in charge of the museum and there was no one else I could talk to. After a few minutes, a manager appeared. I told him what had happened. The guard said that two independent witnesses had separately approached him and told him that I was «abusive» to the woman. This can’t be true, as the woman and I were alone in the hallway, and I was not abusive to her — I was just minding my own business when she spoke to me and attempted to control my visit. The guard himself witnessed nothing and made no attempt to ask me what had happened. They did not give me any kind of caution or warning, but instead insisted that I leave the museum right then and there. The manager took my name and address and promised to investigate what had happened and write me a letter in response. It’s been two weeks, and I have had no contact from the museum. I work with the public, and we don’t treat people this way. My advice is: DON’T GO THERE UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE TREATED BADLY AND HAVE YOUR VACATION RUINED.

Awesome and very fascinating. This museum of Native Indians people look closely real and the environment seems like we are in the adventure. Unbelievable!

Nice museum. I don’t understand why they have pan-​Indian — Archy theory stuff but maybe to support their argument as legitimate descendants to people in that region. Most Native American people don’t start history with the landbridge theory… its a swayed primer to history.
The staff were rude, talked loud, and everything was expensive. I liked the Pequot village diorama and some of the other displays, but some were entirely out of place.

5 star museum/​fascinating. Mashantucket Pequot Museum in Mashantucket, CT is an open encyclopedia begging to be explored.
A museum becomes «grand» when the visitor comes away from it learning in one day, more about the Pequot than they have about their entire family for the last thirty years.
All cynicism aside, there are many great museums out there, but this one is a welcome addition to my «Top Five Museums of all Time» list… whenever that list will be made.

This is a really great museum near Foxwoods. My husband and I have been a couple of times, but this was our first visit with our kids, ages 6 and 8. We didn’t know how into it they would be but they really loved it. The exhibits are really quite life-​like, which I think really got them interested. They particularly loved A Pequot Village, which has several scenes of daily life; you learn about each of them by listening to stories on a cellphone-​like device. We had to stop at each and every one of them. Definitely worth the visit, for adults and kids.

Spend the time to truly appreciate it all it has to offer.
What an amazing museum! This place is well mantained.
The exhibits are very informative and the sequence is well thought out. The model village is truly superb. The accompanying audio is very helpful.
I attended a conference here this weekend and the facilities were perfect. The service staff was attentive and courteous. I was truly impressed with every single staff member whether they worked at the reception, the library, the cafeteria or taking tickets entering the exhibits, they were all friendly and courteous.
The movie «The Witness» was very moving. It was thought-​provoking and definitely the type of movie that makes you think long after you leave. When I drove away and saw the two competing casinos, it made me reflect on the history of the Pequot and other Native peoples.
I will definitely return and recommend to friends and colleagues. I will also recommend to my professional organization that they host our conference here again next year.

Totally underutilized resource to learn about the native peoples of the woods in Connecticut. There aren’t likely going to be a lot of pictures posted here as they’re not allowed inside the museum — just a taste of the import of visiting a culture that respects things in a sacred way.
The museum clearly is well funded from the casino but that isn’t the only thing to keep in mind as one ventures into this environment. The totally untouched natural environment except where the buildings are is amazing, truly well thought out planning and design!
Kids need to be a bit older to appreciate this and the density of information is high so take your time to really see what there is to offer. Oh, PACK FOOD IN as it’s horrid on location — think fast food…

I visited the Pequot Museum in June, and i was blown away. I am planning another trip in the near future. This museum is just awesome, you will leave with a different point of view. I love learning about different cultures, i just love how we are all different and unique.

I am really stunned that there are no Unilocal reviews for this museum. This is my FAVORITE museum. I first visited back in 1999 and returned again this past weekend for a second trip. What an experience! This museum tells the story of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe. It is huge, modern and absolutely beautiful. The exhibits are so interesting, especially the Pequot Village where you get to walk through a day in the life of various tribe members. You receive a phone-​like apparatus that serves as an audio guide, explaining everything that you are viewing.
The amount of time, effort and money that has been placed into this museum is very apparent. I enjoyed all of the exhibits, the artwork, the peacefulness I felt as I walked through the museum, but my faves were the Pequot Village, the 30 minute dramatic video of the Pequot War in 1637 and photos/​stories of Pequot descendants today. It was an extremely personal, enlightening experience that gave me a greater appreciation, respect and admiration for this tribe and their way of life. The museum also has an Observation Tower. Ride the elevator all the way up and you will get an excellent view of the Pequot lands and Foxwoods.
For $ 15, its definitely worth a trip if you are in the area. The staff at the entrance and also in the museum store were extremely warm and friendly. The website does caution against following a GPS to get there and they provide detailed directions, which worked well for us. Check it out for yourself. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.