“Anishinabek: The People of This Place” is a Grand Rapids Public Museum exhibit telling the story of the Ottawa, Potawatomi and Chippewa people of West Michigan. There are 12 federally recognized Michigan tribes and four state historic tribes.
“Really, what this exhibit does is celebrates who we are as a people. And a lot of different exhibits don’t have that. They’re put together by people who aren’t invested, aren’t part of community, and this one was.”
“My name is Ed Pigeon. I am the Anishinabek curator for the Grand Rapids Public Museum. I’m a member of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish band of Potawatomi Indians.
“There is a call in the new regulations for consent for items to be displayed which in our exhibit in the past, that was already meeting those requirements because the museum worked with tribal community to ensure that everything here was culturally appropriate and told our story at the time.”
Pigeon tells us the museum and local tribes hold themselves to a higher standard.
“Tribal governments throughout the state as well as Native American community and all these people come together to really share our visual stories as tribes, but together as the whole people.”
The updated federal regulations also streamline the returning of cultural items and human remains to their descendants or tribes.