Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox museum

| name = Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum

| logo =

| image = Tomaquag Museum, Arcadia RI.jpg

| map_type = USA Rhode Island

| former_name =

| location = 390 Summit Rd, Exeter, Rhode Island USA

| coordinates = {{Coord|41.5575|-71.69785|type:landmark_region:US-RI|display=title,inline}}

| type =

| founder = Princess Red Wing

| website =

| established = {{Start date|1958}}

}}

The Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum is an Indigenous museum in Exeter, Rhode Island. The museum was founded by anthropologist Eva Butler and a Narragansett and Pokanoket woman named Princess Red Wing in 1958.

It is one of the oldest tribal museums in the country and is located in Exeter, Rhode Island.{{cite journal|last=Weston|first=Wendy|title=Preserving Narragansett Heritage: The Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum|journal=Native Peoples Magazine|date=May–June 2007|volume=20|issue=2|pages=60}} The museum won a National Medal for Museum and Library Service in 2016. The museum was nominated by U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.{{Cite web|url=https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/federal-delegation-announces-museum-and-library-awards-in-ri|title=Federal Delegation Announces Museum & Library Awards in RI {{!}} U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island|website=www.whitehouse.senate.gov|language=en|access-date=2020-02-08}}

The museum showcases the history and culture of the natives peoples who have lived and currently reside in southeastern New England including the Narragansett, Niantic, Pokanoket, Wompanoag and Nipmuck. Exhibits include traditional crafts, such as ash splint baskets and locally made dolls, historical archives dating back to the 1880s, culture and important Indigenous figures including Princess Red Wing and Ellison "Tarzan" Brown Sr.{{Cite web|url=https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20180304/new-dawn-rises-on-tomaquag-museum-as-it-celebrates-60th-anniversary|title=A new dawn rises on Tomaquag Museum as it celebrates 60th anniversary|last=Miller|first=G. Wayne|website=providencejournal.com|language=en|access-date=2020-02-08}} The museum's grounds include a wetu (traditional domed hut) and a traditional Three Sisters garden with corn, beans and squash. There is also a forest and an outdoor Friendship Circle.

The site of the museum was originally home to the Dovecrest Restaurant and Trading Post, founded by Eleanor and Ferris Dove. The Dove family donated their personal property soon thereafter to establish a permanent home for the museum.{{cite news|last=Rovetti|first=Leslie|title=It's official: Narragansett educator, curator Loren Spears is extraordinary|url=http://www.thewesterlysun.com/news/local/article_0fea3afa-3b41-11df-b06b-001cc4c002e0.html|accessdate=4 April 2013|newspaper=The Westerly Sun|date=March 29, 2010}}

In 2003, Lorén Spears founded the Nuweetooun School on the site of the museum. It was a private school for grades K-8. Open to any student, it focused on Indigenous youth. Nuweetooun School was closed in Spring of 2010 due to damage from flooding.{{Cite web|url=https://turnto10.com/archive/the-tomaquag-indian-memorial-museum-and-nuweetooun-school|title=The Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum and Nuweetooun School|last=Group|first=Sinclair Broadcast|date=2010-04-10|website=WJAR|access-date=2020-02-08}}

The museum is open on Wednesdays and on weekends.