For Immediate Release - July 8, 2008

6650 E. Broadway • Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858
Phone: 989-775-4750 • Fax: 989-775-4770
Hours Of Operation

Contact:
Stefanie Dombrowski, Sales & Events Coordinator • sdombrowski@sagchip.org
Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways • 6650 E. Broadway • Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858
Phone 989.775.4744 • Fax 989.775.4770 • www.sagchip.org/ziibiwing

For Immediate Release - July 8, 2008

Mt. Pleasant, Michigan The Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways will host a three-day celebration of American Indian culture aptly named NativeFest on July 30-August 1, 2008. This year our Exclusive Sponsor is National City. NativeFest honors the community, kicks-off American Indian Sobriety Month, and supports the annual Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribal Pow Wow which will be held at the Tribal Campground on Tomah Rd. the weekend of
August 1-3, 2008.

The 3rd Annual Indian Car Bingo will be held in the Ziibiwing Center parking lot on July 30 from 6-9pm with registration beginning at 5pm. At only $10 per person, participants will enjoy playing bingo from their cars with a chance to win fabulous prizes; including a cover-all grand prize worth $1,000. All proceeds from Indian Car Bingo will support educational and cultural programming at the Ziibiwing Center.

A Music & Comedy Show is also a part of NativeFest and will be held on the grounds of the Ziibiwing Center on July 31 from 6-9pm. The show is free and open to the public. Fun for the entire family - you'll laugh to the hour-long comedic performance of Mitch Factor and enjoy the musical stylings of the ROCKHOPPERS and Kevin Chamberlain. The Music & Comedy Show will have free food, fun, and family entertainment provided by National City.

On August 1 from 10am-3pm, the Ziibiwing Center will conclude NativeFest with a special one-day Naub-cow-zo-win Disks collection showing in conjunction with Alpena's Jesse Besser Museum. Richard Clute, curator of the Jesse Besser Museum, will be present to discuss these one of a kind objects of personal significance that were recovered from a beach on Thunder Bay in Alpena, Michigan. Naub-cow-zo-win Disks can best be described as sedimentary slate disks that were treasured by the Anishinabek during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Many are inscribed with spiritual symbols that continue to influence the traditional beliefs of the Anishinabek today. These disks have never been displayed for a general audience. This event is free and open to the public.

The Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan is the Midwest's Premier American Indian Museum. Established in 2004, the Ziibiwing Center is a distinctive treasure created to provide an enriched, diversified, and culturally relevant educational experience through its award-winning Diba Jimooyung (Telling Our Story) permanent exhibit, changing exhibits, research center, Ojibwe language immersion room, and gift shop. The Ziibiwing Center is a non-profit cultural center and museum belonging to the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan who also own Michigan's only four diamond casino resort, the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort, and the recently opened Saganing Eagle Landing Casino located in Standish, Michigan.

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