Over the course of 20 years, MKIM has offered educational group tours to over 105,000 children. Education is the core of our mission and we look forward to welcoming your group on a memorable journey encompassing the amazing diversity of North American Indian cultures and reverence for nature. In addition to school tours, MKIM offers tours for homeschoolers, scout tours, senior tours, and special interest tours for groups such as cultural awareness, gardening, craft, Native studies, and museum studies groups.

Groups begin their visit by viewing a 10-minute DVD that orients them to the museum. Museum Educators introduce themselves and lay out the framework and rules for the tour. Then the journey begins!

Enter the Northeastern Woodlands with its birch bark containers, moose hair embroidery and split ash baskets, into the Southeast with artifacts from the Seminole and Cherokee cultures. Around a corner, enter the Southwest with a fascinating discussion about corn, pueblo pottery, Navajo weaving and basketry from the western part of the country.

Next, step into the Plains Galleries.  This work, completed under the direction of Chris Bullock, Wampanoag, brings a full-scale furnished tipi into the galleries! Children and adults alike will marvel at this glimpse into Plains life with discussions of the American bison, beadwork and feather headdresses. The Northwest Coast is represented by artifacts such as harpoon heads, fur lined moccasins, model kayaks and more recent stone sculptures. 

Finally, our Ceremonial Room focuses on the pipes, the musical instruments and the regalia that have been used in ceremonies of all kinds by Native Americans. Connect the Circle Tours also include a guided walk through of the Medicine Woods Nature Trail, where we have over 100 plants native to our area that have been used by Native peoples for tools, medicines, foods, dyes, transportation, shelter, and more. Click here to download a Group Reservation Form. 

MKIM is a natural resource for classroom teachers, home school parents, youth group leaders and enrichment coordinators. In addition to offering group tours of the museum the museum offers Educator Resource Kits, Outreach Programs and specifics on how MKIM aligns with the New Hampshire Department of Education’s State Curriculum Frameworks for Teaching Social Studies.

Plains-style tipi.  Photo by Richard Senor. 2008.