Museums are treasure troves of knowledge, as opposed to regular treasure troves, which horde boring, intellectually stifling gold. Stock your brain with knowledge nuggets with today’s Groupon offering admission to the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center in Mashantucket. Choose between two options:

• $7 for one adult admission (a $15 value)
• $30 for a one-year family membership (a $60 value)

The family membership is good for one year for two adults living at the same address and all children or grandchildren under the age of 18.

With 85,000 square feet of exhibit space, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center is one of the largest Native American museums in the world. Explore 18,000 years of Native and natural history through the museum’s interactive dioramas, films and video, computer stations, and archeological collections. The 22,000-square-foot Pequot Village allows visitors to experience daily life for the tribe during the 16th century. The immersive environmental diorama features the sights, sounds, and scents of an authentic Pequot community, complete with trees, wigwams, and life-size figures farming, fishing, weaving, and creating detailed grocery shopping lists. Embark on a chilly tour of a glacier’s interior in The Glacial Crevasse, or encounter the terrifying defrosted denizens of the Ice Age in Life in a Cold Climate, featuring full-scale replicas of dire wolves, a mastodon, and the giant beaver, commonly known as "The Scourge Of Forests." Museum visitors can also admire Pequot artwork, photographs, maps, and artifacts in a variety of exhibits.

Take a break from your fact-finding mission with a meal in the Museum Restaurant, offering snacks, lunch fare, and Native American selections, or to peruse the Trading Post gift shop for souvenirs for an inquisitive family member or bespectacled dog. The museum’s two libraries, including one for children, provides knowledge seekers with a diverse selection of resource materials on the history and culture of indigenous people of North America. With your family membership, you’ll receive free admission to the museum year-round, a subscription to the museum’s calendar publication, Native Visions, as well as discounts for the museum restaurant, gift shop, and additional guest admissions.

Reviews

Frommer's very highly recommends the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center. Blog Material World, About.com, and Examiner.com featured it. Four Yelpers give it a perfect five-star rating, and nine TripAdvisors give it an average of 4.5 owl eyes. More than 1,450 Facebookers like it.

• Opened in 1998 to substantial fanfare, it has justified the hoopla with a carefully conceived mix of film, murals, models, dioramas, and re-creations of scenes of Native American life. – Frommer's
• It is huge, modern and absolutely beautiful. The exhibits are so interesting, especially the Pequot Village where you get to walk through a day in the life of various tribe members. – Jen B., Yelp