The Apostle Islands are considered the Jewels of Lake Superior, and Madeline Island — the largest of the Apostle Islands — has always been a hub. It's served as a bountiful supply for food and other natural resources, a waterborne highway and the epicenter of the Ojibwe worldview.
The Ojibwe and other tribes made their home on Madeline Island for hundreds of years before European contact, and their journey of migration to the island has been shared through centuries of storytelling.
A new exhibit called “Passages: Ojibwe Migration to the Place Where the Food Grows on the Water” at the Madeline Island Museum shares the story of the Ojibwe’s 500-year journey to this prophesied island as told through their ancestors' eyes.
"Looking at the island as a place of epic journeys really gave us an opportunity to look at the historical role that the island played in the region," says Museum Site Director Mike Wiggins Jr. "When we talked about the early Ojibwe history it really became clear that we haven't had a great opportunity to light up the island, to light up the the region in terms of the habitat and the the diversity of habitat that comes together, and then really focusing in on how the early Ojibwe arrival into this area played into this wonderful kind of power place of life."
The exhibit incorporates some of the stories of the Ojibwe such as the tale of the Miigis, which is a story chronicling the people settling in to the region from the Atlantic Ocean. There's also community guide panels that chronicle the creation of the Apostle Islands narrated by local knowledge keepers.
Wiggins notes, "The creation of the Apostles, our migration to get here — they're almost spiritual stories in a way. And in fact, they are spiritual stories, and they really give an awesome foundation and context to the Ojibwe place-based connectivity here."
Wiggins wanted to create a unique experience through not only sharing the legends passed through time, but by also featuring photographs, art and artifacts.
"I wanted to be able to try to give the general public a bit of an understanding of how powerfully connected to the Big Lake the early Ojibwe were. But I also wanted to be really respectful to the history and make sure that it was an exhibit that would speak to some of the elders within the tribal nations, but that would also speak to visitors from Texas and Iowa and Illinois," he explains. "It's a huge challenge to put together storylines that speak to diverse group of folks."
A centuries-old, fire-hollowed dugout canoe that was rediscovered by a World War II veteran and Madeline Island resident centers the exhibit. According to Wiggins, the canoe had sat in the museum's old fur trade area displayed on its side on a wall for years. However, it was a "game changer" when the canoe was turned right side up and brought back to life.
Also on display is the Oshcabawis pictograph, which is a depiction of the chiefs delegation journey to Washington D.C. in 1849 and was originally done on a birch bark scroll, Wiggins explains. It's a visual interpretation of the connection between various doodems, or clans, and their united goal of retaining permanent and meaningful homelands. It was also used by Chief Buffalo's 1852 petition to President Millard Filmore.
"We use the map decoder to show kind of micro to macro on how that pictograph ends up conveying a really, really diverse and amazing view of Anishinaabe Earth, Anishinaabe Ojibwe lands and water," explains Wiggins. "All of it centered in wild rice, or this other notion of 'the place where the food grows on water,' their forever home."
Wiggins says all of the artifacts, accounts and components of "Passages" collectively tell the compelling story of the region, which has "been a story of peace and that's a beautiful thing."
"That's what those old chiefs set out to do. So, my staff and I have been really enjoying interacting with folks and sharing. So, I invite everybody to come on up and spend some time. It's definitely well worth the trip," he says.
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