Five years ago dear friends of mine, Pres and Bess, took me to the Museum of Ojibwa Culture, in St. Ignace Michigan, on the Upper Peninsula shore of the Straights of Mackinac, and I thank them. The Museum’s indoor and outdoor exhibits are fully expressive of the cultural history of the Ojibwa, with a focus on the time when the first French voyageurs found the Ojibwa and the Wyandot Huron living gracefully in accordance with the natural laws of the place.
I was captivated, and inspired, by the Museum’s portrayal of the many centuries long Ojibwa migration of the Original People moving from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes and north. The Ojibwa were led West well before the first Europeans arrived by their visions of Megis and just the summer before Steve Fobister had shared with me the legend of Anung, tracing the boy’s journey along the same route back East, back to the ancestral home, where he hoped to find the greatest chief.
I introduced myself then to Shirley Sorrell, Director of the Museum and its Cultural Center. I outlined the Anung story for her, and I asked if I could get in touch with her again if the story was ever published. I did, and I was humbled by her offer to host the book’s launch at the Museum.
This place, the Straights of Mackinac, is sacred to the book’s stories; it’s where Mishee Mackinakong, the Great Sea Turtle, rose from the flood waters so Sky Woman could rebuild Turtle Island on the back of his shell. For Anung to be rooted here as it tells the stories it is meant to tell is humbling.
Along with the exhibits and an extensive bookstore, the Cultural Center sponsors a Tribal Youth Entrepreneurship Program, teaching the next generation native and contemporary crafts as well as basic business skills. I was pleased to have the chance to conduct some creativity workshops with the young entrepreneurs.
If you would like to support the Museum and the Cultural Center’s programs, you can contact them at museumofojibwaculture.net.