Step into the Pamunkey Indian Museum, located at the tribe’s reservation in King William, and each artifact will transport you to a different age.
Stone points dating 12,000 years ago. A treaty from 1677 between several tribes and the English crown, guaranteeing the Indigenous members control over their homeland. Ceremonial headwear and dresses worn in the 1930s.
But the museum’s timeline, depicting traditional pottery styles through the Pamunkey’s history, stops in 1980. Untouched for more than 40 years, the exhibition’s displays are still dotted with carefully cut circles containing information about the artifacts, carefully typed out. In fact, Shaleigh R. Howells, the museum’s director, is considering putting the typewriter used to write these descriptions on display.
“The collection has become its own collection,” Howells said.
Decades later, the museum is ready for a change. Howells, who joined the museum in June, is working with Pamunkey tribal members to breathe new life into the space by rotating in new objects and displays, building an online platform for Pamunkey artisans, and introducing new programming.
When the pandemic hit, the museum had “no online presence, no online programming, no way to do that. They realized very quickly that they needed to build capacity,” Howells said. “I’m here to help do that.”
Returning to its traditional schedule, the museum reopened its doors post-COVID in April and will be open until November. Howells, however, said the museum is considering either changing the museum’s normal hours and schedule or using its “off” months to host school visits and events. Howells said she has seen an average of about 30 visitors each weekend this summer.
The museum first began construction in 1979 with the help of Warren Cook, a Pamunkey tribal member, archaeologist Erret Callahan and members of the Pamunkey community. The museum opened on Oct. 11, 1980.
The museum takes advantage of every wall it can fit with information, including the Paleo Age, also known as the ice age, then into Archaic life, and finally the Woodland stage.
The museum features dozens of arrowheads from around the country and the world –– from Pullman, Washington to Branson, Missouri to Bordeaux, France. Many of them were either donated or brought in by donors.
The idea of “ownership” is very much a white, western concept, said Howells.
“Here, a lot of it is community ownership,” she said. “Many things may be on long-term loan.”
Part of Howells’ work will include cataloging the museum’s contents into a digital archive, work she has experience with in past museum positions. A Massachusetts native, she received her bachelor’s degree in history and political science from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and a master’s degree in museum studies from Harvard. Prior to joining the Pamunkey Indian Museum, she was museum technician and assistant registrar at The Valentine, Richmond’s oldest museum.
Howells also hopes to feature some of the museum’s own archaeological collections and work with tribal members to create modern exhibitions focusing on more contemporary Pamunkey work.
On the other side of the museum’s timeline exhibits are examples of lithic technology, traditional pottery, and ceremonial clothing. Here, Howell can often put names to the archived items –– a headpiece that once belonged to Chief George Major Cook, who was elected in 1902, alongside a dress worn by his wife. A glass case of pottery includes several pieces donated by tribal members.
Some of Howells’ favorite moments in the museum are being able to watch tribal members come in and pick out pottery done by their ancestors or relatives, putting a face with a piece.
While Howells works closely with the Pamunkey tribal council and tribal members, she has no tribal affiliation.
But the Pamunkey community has welcomed her, and Howells plans to continue directing the museum the same way it was founded: driven by Indigenous voices.
“I’m not gonna whitewash this institution,” she said. “That’s not what I’m here to do.”
Creating an online platform for the museum’s artists is one of the first steps to empowering Native voices, she said. The gift shop features the work of more than 20 Pamunkey artists. Some of the pieces, made by young artisans and tribal elders, are worth more than $1,000. Building an online platform will give them a bigger platform and audience, Howells said.
Howells also recognizes the museum has stayed largely the same for so many decades, leading her to focus efforts on new programming, including bringing back classes on pottery and wood instruments, and introducing new instruction.
“I want people to have a reason to come to the museum, or come to the cultural center, especially post COVID,” she said. “We have a lot of tribal elders here on the reservation, and being able to offer some things for them that are outside of the home is really important.”
Howells believes that going to a museum built and curated with such strong tribal voices is reason enough to visit. And even though the location is remote, located in the stretches of King William County on Lay Landing Road, Howells says it’s worth the trip.
“Coming here is an experience in and of itself –– you truly have to have a destination in coming here,” Howells said with a laugh, gesturing at the museum’s rural surroundings. “The collection is phenomenal. It’s one of the only collections in the area that is truly was done with tribal input. And that’s important.”
Gaya Gupta, 757-446-2986, gaya.gupta@virginiamedia.com
If you go
What: The Pamunkey Indian Museum and Cultural Center
Where: 175 Lay Landing Road, King William, 23086
Hours: Thursday-Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Cost: Tickets adult (18 and older) tickets: $5; children (4 and older): $3; senior citizens (65 and older): $3
Info: pamunkey.org/museum-cultural-center, museum@pamunkey.org, 804-843-4792
