Ziibiwing Center - Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan

Looking ForwardLetter from the Board of DirectorsAt the Sanilac Petroglyphs, there is a teachingcalled ebmodaakowet, the archer. Ebmodaakowetsymbolizes our Anishinabek ancestors and theirpromise to teach the next Seven Generations.Ebmodaakowet shoots an arrow of knowledge andwisdom into the future. Our team feels that theZiibiwing Center is a modern-day ebmodaakowet.The Ziibiwing Center Board of Directors andstaff look forward to many more years of bringingforth knowledge and providing opportunities forfuture generations to become engaged with thecenter. Our team is preparing to develop a new 5-10year Strategic Plan that incorporates our FourStrategic Themes that we implemented four yearsago: Cultural Education & Programming, PeoplePerformance, Reputation for Excellence, andZiibiwing Center Growth.Guided by our Four Strategic Themes, wewould like to introduce one ongoing project andtwo upcoming initiatives that the Ziibiwing Centeris undertaking:22Loving Mother Earth ProgramThis program was implemented to furthertribal efforts in recycling efforts to reduce, reuse,and recycle. The “Flip & Switch” motto reminds usto make sure our lights are turned off whenequipment is not in use; therefore not wastingelectricity. Ziibiwing also prints on the flip-side ofused paper for all internal documents; whichreduces our dependence on copy paper.The staff is updated on the Loving MotherEarth Program at our quarterly meetings. We reporthow much paper/electricity has been used and notused compared to previous months.Intellectual Property Issues in CulturalHeritage (IPinCH)This project represents an international,interdisciplinary collaboration among more than 50scholars and 25 partnering organizations embarkingon an unprecedented and timely investigation ofintellectual property (IP) issues in cultural heritagethat represent emergent local and globalinterpretations of culture, rights, and knowledge.The Ziibiwing Center is a partneringorganization and will conduct research on theSanilac Petroglyphs with noted Ojibway scholar,Dr. Sonya Atalay (Indiana University).The IPinCH objectives are:• To document the diversity of principles,interpretations, and actions arising in responseto IP issues in cultural heritage worldwide;• To analyze the many implications of thesesituations;• To generate more robust theoreticalunderstandings as well as norms of bestpractices; and• To make these findings available tostakeholders—from Aboriginal communities toprofessional organizations to governmentagencies—to develop and refine their owntheories, principles, policies and practices.Visit the website for updates at:http://cgi.sfu.ca/~ipinch/cgi-bin/Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA):The Anishinaabe Exhibition ProjectIn a broad, collaborative initiative, the DIA willenter into partnerships with an international groupof major art museums, smaller community-basedcultural centers on reservations and a diverse groupof curators, academic scholars, community leadersand artists to organize a multifaceted exhibition andAnishnaabe “information bank,” exploring newstudies in Anishnaabe art, history, culture, andworldview. The Anishnaabe Exhibition Project canserve as a powerful antidote to the kinds of casualinformation available to both children and adultsabout “Indians” and “Aboriginals,” and thus correctpopularly assumed stereotypes and biases.The Ziibiwing Center will be involved in thisintensive, five-year collaboration.BoozhooTribal Council andZiibiwing CenterMembers,We are gratefuland honored to servethe Ziibiwing Center asits formal Board ofDirectors. The center hasinfluenced so manymembers of the tribalcommunity in such a positiveway while educating ourneighbors and the non-Indiancommunity. Our board has beenable to give direction to the art showsand exhibits; as well as encouragingdonations of significant historical and culturalmaterial. Our participation has also brought fortha sharing of old photographs of Saginaw Chippewatribal members’ relatives, their homes, and activitiesthroughout time. Many tribal members would nottrust any other organization to properly displaytheir relatives with such pride as the ZiibiwingCenter has done under our guidance.Our activities on the Board of Directors hasallowed university and high school professionals toseek explanations from our displays rather thanhaving to turn to many discriminatory historybooks that have misinformed students about theSaginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan. Wehave been able to encourage Ziibiwing’s staffmembers in their work and research by our reviewand support. We also assist the Ziibiwing staff inproviding more exposure to our proud displays andactivities such as language and dance programs.It has been a wonderful experience to help theZiibiwing Center staff create displays of our history,our beliefs, and our ancestors, and to seethese displays bring about pride and greataccomplishment. It is just as inspiring to see ourwork influence young children to now expectpeople to speak the Ojibway language and toeagerly inquire about our clan system, our socialstructures, and our political history as a sovereignnation. There is no other place where we can see afraction of these positive results. Our work has trulyassisted in raising the standard of pride inAnishinabe history and traditions.It is wonderful to know that as the Board ofDirectors we were a part of this historical change increating a museum and cultural center. We canproudly say that we helped steward the ZiibiwingCenter through its humble beginnings to it nowbecoming nationally-recognized as an exemplaryorganization.Miigwetch,Ziibiwing Center Board of DirectorsZiibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & LifewaysBack Row, Left to Right:Terry Bonnau, Joan Webkamigad, Kenneth Douglas, Ronald Douglas,Craig Waynee, and Mang WebkamigadFront Row, Left to Right:Phyllis Kequom, Harold Gould, Jim Walker, Diane Morley, Jeff Sprague,and Stella Falsetta3