Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways celebrates first anniversary

Observer Staff

8/16/2005 12:00:00 AM

By Bonnie Ekdahl

ZC Director

The Ziibiwing Center has officially been open for one full year! It has been like a dream come true, but I wish I had time to reflect and enjoy! Instead it's been continuous action with daily exciting challenges and celebrations.

As many of you will remember, our challenge a year ago was to see if visitors would understand our story. Would the exhibition strategies work or would all the discussion be in vain? Did we appeal to emotions and will they have a profound emotional experience? The answers are coming back a resounding "yes, yes, yes!" I cannot express to all who worked on this project how important your role was, no matter the size of the contribution. Each and every voice and story was important and they all added to the feeling a visitor has the minute they step into the great lodge entry of the Ziibiwing Center. I can only humbly say, "Chi Miigwech for your patience and support throughout this long process."

During some of my rare quiet moments I can step back and look at the important work happening at Ziibiwing. There is an amazing group of people working at the Ziibiwing Center. Do you know we have had over 25,000 visitors walk into our lobby? We sent a research team to Europe and acquired documents from English and French archives? The Creation Theatre video won a prestigious Gold Muse Award from the American Association of Museums at a National Conference, competing with famous, large and wealthy museums? The voices weren't paid actors, they were our own community members! We have had visitors from all over the world-Japan, Australia, Germany, Italy, France and New Zealand to name a few. Schools from as far away as Grand Rapids have made the trek here and will probably return with more students. It's been an amazing first year. But more importantly, when the children from our own Tribal community visit with their classmates you can hear them say with pride, "that's my uncle" or "that's my grandpa" or "grandma." Because of your support and contributions they have a place to come and see the facts of their history. Let's not forget that people my age never learned the facts because they were not offered and certainly there was no place that celebrated Anishinabek accomplishments. You have helped us create a place that has never been�and in doing so, we start this next generation off with important basic facts about who they are, and what events brought them to this place in history. It is a big deal and I don't think we will fully see the impact in our lifetime.

Over the year we did our best to document Ziibiwing events. We gather data, analyze and re-analyze why some events are popular and some are not. We strive for improvement on a continuous basis. We have a great board of directors who keep us grounded and provide candid guidance on a regular basis, of which we are extremely grateful. So we expect to see improvements in our participant numbers and improvements in marketing strategies. Having a year of experience makes a huge difference and gives us something substantial to measure and compare. A look at the future of the Ziibiwing Center should bring more excitement and challenges, so please continue to help us keep up with the challenges. We sincerely appreciate your involvement and use of our services.

Baa maa pii. I will see you around.