For Immediate Release - May 13, 2015

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: - November 16, 2015
CONTACT:
FRANK CLOUTIER, Public Relations Director
fcloutier@sagchip.org
Marcella Hadden, Public Relations Manager mahadden@sagchip.org
Phone 989.775.4096

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan to Repatriate Ancestral Human Remains from the University of Michigan’s Museum of Anthropological Archaeology

Mt. Pleasant, Michigan – The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan and its Ziibiwing Cultural Society (Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways) will repatriate the ancestral human remains of 31 Native American individuals and15 associated funerary objects from the University of Michigan’s Museum of Anthropological Archaeology in Ann Arbor, Mich. on November 23-25, 2015. The Ziibiwing Cultural Society has been working diligently on behalf of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan, and in cooperation with the Michigan Anishinaabek Cultural Preservation & Repatriation Alliance (MACPRA), to bring home ancestors and their associated funerary objects from the numerous museums, universities, and institutions across the country since the passage of the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

NAGPRA requires museums and federal agencies to inventory and identify Native American human remains and cultural items in their collections and to consult with Federally-recognized Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations regarding the return of these objects to descendants or tribes and organizations. The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan, in partnership with the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (MBPI) – Gun Lake Tribe, will carry out the repatriation through a NAGPRA Repatriation Grant in the amount of $3,364.

“The work funded by these grants is a step toward addressing past violations of the treatment of human remains and sacred objects of native peoples, while restoring the ability of American Indian and Native Hawaiian peoples to be stewards of their own ancestral dead and cultural heritage.” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis.

The Native American ancestral remains and associated funerary objects originate from the Michigan Counties of Bay, Clinton, Genesee, Ionia, Macomb, Saginaw, Saint Clair, and Tuscola & the following eleven (11) sites: 20.0926 Budd, 20.0201 Verchave #2, 20.0339 Mahoney Property, 20.0847 Schmidt 2-4, 20.0046 Butterfield, 20.0047 Kantzler, 20.2045 Steinbowe, 20.1279 GL-1279, 20.0489 Ray Bradshaw Farm, 20.1944 Hancock I, and 20.1985 Lyons Prairie. All 11 Notices of Inventory Completion posted to the Federal Register on October 15, 2015.

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan invites the interested public to join us for the Recommitment to the Earth Ceremony for 29 Native American individuals and 15 associated funerary objects to be held on Tuesday, November 24 at 12pm in the Tribe’s Nibokaan Ancestral Cemetery. The cemetery was established in 1995 for the explicit purpose of reburying repatriated Native American ancestral human remains and associated funerary objects. The Nibokaan Cemetery is located on the Saginaw Chippewa’s Isabella Indian Reservation, behind the Tribal Campground located at 7525 East Tomah Rd., Mt. Pleasant, Mich. A Journey Feast to conclude the ancestral ceremonies and protocols will be held at 1pm on Tuesday, November 24 at the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways located at 6650 East Broadway, Mt. Pleasant, Mich.

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan and Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians – Gun Lake Tribe invite the interested public to join us for the Recommitment to the Earth Ceremony for 2 Native American individuals to be held at 10am on Wednesday, November 25 at Camp Jijak located near Hopkins, Mich. A cemetery was established in 2015 by the MBPI’s Jijak Foundation for the explicit purpose of reburying repatriated Native American ancestral human remains and associated funerary objects. This day will mark the MBPI’s first Recommitment to the Earth Ceremony. Camp Jijak is located at 2558 20th St., Hopkins, Mich. A Journey Feast to conclude the ancestral ceremonies and protocols will be held at 1pm on Wednesday, November 25 in the Camp Jijak Dining Hall. For more information about the Jijak Foundation, call Executive Director Kevin Finney at (269) 793-7710 or visit: www.jijak.org

The Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeway’s in Mount Pleasant, Mich. 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, gift shop, and meeting rooms. The Ziibiwing Center is a non-profit cultural center and museum belonging to the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan.

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