Pamunkey Indian Reservation
The major focus of the Pamunkey Indian Museum is to teach about the Pamunkey people and their way of life throughout history, from the ice age to the present. Tools and other items are shown as they would have been seen and used by Pamunkey Indians of that period. Original artifacts are displayed along with replicas based on the most up-to-date information on how things were made, handled, used, and worn out. It is hoped that visitors will be inspired by the history and whether by a brisk walk through or studying some period in detail, an interest will be generated about the lives of the people who left this great legacy.
Built to resemble the houses of the ancient Pamunkey, the museum now houses their story. Set within the quiet confines of the reservation, the museum is the only documented history of a tribe that has existed on its present homeland since the Ice Ages and played a significant leadership role in the activities of Virginia's American Indian population throughout history.
Enter Your Location
Related Trip Ideas
Nearby Places
At the Site
Activities to do
Facilities/Amenities available
Hours
Open on Fridays and Saturdays 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and Sundays 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
(Note: Many places fill to capacity on busy, nice weather days, especially holiday weekends. Please call ahead or visit the official website to get the most up-to-date information before visiting.)
Fees
General admission costs $6.00. The museum only accepts cash or checks, no credit cards.
Activities
Built to resemble the houses of the ancient Pamunkey, the museum now houses their story. To walk through the museum is to walk through time. Beginning with the Ice Age, you are made familiar with "The People" (what they looked like, their ornaments, and their personal existence), "Their Natural Environment" (the land they inhabited, and how it looked), "Their Settlement" (the dwelling places of the people), and "Their Subsistence" (the tools they used and how they survived). These four themes reappear in each of the archeological time frames shown until you reach the present.
Set off from the Tribal Council complex at the edge of the woods is the inconspicuous Pottery School. It has been the home of the Pamunkey Indian Potter's Guild since the early 1930s. The Pamunkey Museum Shop literally glitters with the crafts that attest to the industry of the cooperative's members.
At the Pamunkey Shadfish Hatchery learn about the sustained effort to preserve and restore the American Shadfish, one of the Chesapeake Bay's indigenous species of fish who travel the Pamunkey River each spring to spawn. Since 1918, the Hatchery has been hatching and releasing fingerling Shad into the River during the spawning season.
History
Built to resemble the houses of the ancient Pamunkey, the museum now houses their story. Set within the quiet confines of the reservation, the museum is the only documented history of a tribe that has existed on its present homeland since the Ice Ages and played a significant leadership role in the activities of Virginia's American Indian population throughout history.
Weather
