Conclusion

The conclusion summarizes the interventions made by the preceding chapters on topics of memorialization and placemaking. It asks what “other stories” remain to be told about this conflict and its protracted legacies, and what kinds of sociocultural work are necessary to change public understandings of the past as well as the present. It briefly mentions a series of additional case studies that shed light on alternative dimensions of the war, including Native migrations to Quebec-area communities, and the recent unearthing and identification of the Monhantic Fort in Mashantucket Pequot tribal homelands. Altogether, it underscores the need to understand processes of commemoration within particular historical and geographical contexts, and the importance of revisiting seemingly “final” understandings of the Native Northeast.

Survivance Stories, Co-Creation, and a Participatory Model at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center

Since opening its doors in 1998, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center (MPMRC) has had an identity as both a tribal center and a museum committed to challenging the public’s conventional understandings of Native history in New England. Over a 15-year period, museum staff and the tribal community learned to work more collaboratively in an effort to document and illuminate Pequot survivance—the histories of Mashantucket families living and working in and against the modern world. A review of recent museum projects clarifies the benefits of collaboration while revealing how new exhibits and programs are impacting visitor experiences and understandings. Another kind of museum space is envisioned in which visitors, staff, and tribal members actively co-create exhibits and programs centered on Pequot survivance, using content informed by ongoing archaeological studies. In that space, co-creation practices would encourage social interaction—a collaborative pushing-and-pulling of ideas and stories in a shared search for new understandings of survivance at Mashantucket and beyond.