The Quinnipiac Dawnland Museum is now open on the grounds of the Dudley Farm Museum, 2351 Durham Road, Guilford.

The new museum is the culmination of a longtime dream of Dudley Farm member Gordon “Fox Running” Brainerd who passed away in early 2021. The museum will be open each Saturday and Sunday until Dec. 17.

A dedicated collector of Quinnipiac artifacts, Brainerd established the Quinnipiac Museum displaying his collection of hundreds of artifacts in the loft of the Munger Barn at the Dudley Farm in 2003. The new Quinnipiac Dawnland Museum now displays a wide collection of stone projectile points and tools dating back as far as 12,000 years. Through the artifacts, each visitor can learn how Indigenous people were able to adapt to changes in the climate and their environment over thousands of years. Exhibits also uniquely portray the story of Indigenous and Quinnipiac lifeways and spiritual beliefs prior to the arrival of European colonists as well as the dramatic and catastrophic impact of that arrival. All the displays are enhanced by Indigenous voices past and present.

The museum was created with the advice and guidance of Nehantic Elder David Brule, as well as the advice and artistic vision of Wampanoag artists Deborah Spears Moorehead, Robert Peters, and Robert Peters Jr., to accurately reflect the Indigenous culture of the Quinnipiac and Algonkian people of Southern New England.

A mural by Stony Creek artist Elizabeth Steele covers the two walls that detail the impact of the European arrival. It forms a backdrop to the story of the Dutch, then the English presence during the 17th century and the subsequent devastating impact of colonization on the Quinnipiac and other people of Southern New England.

The project was supported in part with grants from the Summer Hill Foundation and the Connecticut Humanities.

The Quinnipiac Dawnland Museum hours are:

For more information contact the Dudley Farm at 203-457-0770.