The Meghalaya State Museum was established in Shillong in 1975 under the Department of Education in the Legislative Assembly building. It was named after the first Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Captain Williamson Sangma who was also the first tribal Governor of the Northeast and a pioneer in leading the Hill State Movement for the attainment of statehood in Meghalaya. The Museum grew in terms of scale with the help of the Indian Museum and Victoria Memorial Hall Kolkata and was finally inaugurated in 2004 with more than 2500 exhibits. Thus, along with the artefacts of Meghalaya’s local tribes, the Museum also contains replicas of Ashoka Pillars from the National Museum, New Delhi and Dinosaur models from the Geological Survey of India, Kolkata.

The Museum has two main galleries, the Khasi and Jaintia gallery and the Garo gallery. Each of these displays several objects integral to the lives of Meghalaya’s tribes like tools, musical instruments, handicrafts, clothes and baskets. The Khasi and Jaintia gallery possesses beautiful examples of wooden carving, several traditional handloom materials, traditional ornaments mostly made from silver and earthen pots used by Khasis and Jaintias for cooking and storing food. The gallery also has musical instruments like Marynthing and Diutara (string instruments), Ksing (drum) and Tangmuri (flute) and weapons like arrows, spears, swords, shields and guns. While the Garo gallery contains a range of traditional handloom attire like Bara Marang (a broad cotton shawl), Re King and Dakmanda (women’s clothing), Sengki and Phandra (waist cloth) ; ornaments like Rikgitok (beaded necklace), Ribuk Do' Ketchi (necklace), Seng– Ki (waist-girdle) Lipoke de' Kotach (necklace), Skoo Kani Bara Roding (head band), and Dome Kadap (head gear) and musical instruments Rang (gong), Chupcheng (cymbal), Dam (drum), Bangsi (flute), Rang A’ Chick (gong).

The Museum also possesses several cutting instruments used by the hunter gatherer and fishing communities of Meghalaya. Most of these contain sharp blades yet with a slender body and often separable parts.