Tucked along East Broadway Road in Mount Pleasant, the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways stands as what curator and director William Johnson said is a “distinctive treasure.”

Created by the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, the center serves as both a museum and cultural archive, one that Johnson said was built to offer “an enriched, diversified and culturally relevant educational experience” for tribal citizens and the broader community alike.

“Our mission promotes the belief that the diversity and spirit of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe should be recognized, communicated, perpetuated and supported,” Johnson said. “That’s almost verbatim from our mission statement.”

The faculty, staff and community members work daily to preserve Tribal stories, traditions and artifacts. From archival research to exhibit design, Johnson said the work at Ziibiwing is constant and deeply collaborative.

“Research happens every single day at the Ziibiwing Center on a multitude of projects and topics specific to telling the history and understanding more about our culture,” he said. “The Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School Committee is entrenched in enormous work on behalf of the Tribe, and we have to make sure the information is accurate and presented in a manner that is enlightening and educational.”

Exhibit ideas come directly from the community rather than through traditional curatorial decisions according to Johnson. He said the center has “thrown the curatorial view out the window” to ensure that the museum truly reflects the people it represents.

Instead of curators dictating what stories are told, the center invites Tribal members to share what they want to see preserved and presented.

That collaborative process, he said, keeps the museum rooted in the voices of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. Community members contribute ideas, objects and stories that shape educational exhibits for both Tribal citizens and visitors from around the world.

For Johnson, this approach puts cultural ownership where it belongs, in the hands of the community itself.

Among countless artifacts, one that stands out to Johnson is a miniature canoe carved by Chief David Shoppenagon, donated by a community member. Another, he said, carried a particularly emotional weight: “Boontak! (Stop It),” an exhibit centered on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls movement.

“That was our exhibit that we just dismantled, and that actual exhibit carries a lot of weight within our tribal community because of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls movement that is now encompassing missing and murdered Indigenous peoples,” Johnson said.

He said that it’s a cultural movement gaining traction throughout Indian Country, across the United States and Canada.

“Being able to have special efforts that are geared towards raising more awareness is very special to Ziibiwing and to me in particular,” he said.

While the center’s work is extensive, Johnson said the main challenge is finding the time to do it all. Between overseeing federal grants, preservation projects and cultural initiatives such as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the team’s schedule is full.

Still, he said the goal remains clear: to present the history and heritage of the Anishinaabe with beauty, decency and truth.

“The Ziibiwing Center of Anishinaabe culture and lifeways is designed to present beauty and decency on behalf of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan,” Johnson said. “We have an amazingly robust culture, and I hope that when folks come and visit us, they understand more about our Tribe and our tribal citizens and our ways of life.”

As one of only two tribally owned museums in Michigan, and recognized as the Midwest’s premier American Indian museum, Ziibiwing offers visitors a rare chance to connect with the First Peoples of the Great Lakes, he said.

Johnson said the Ziibiwing Center is created to share the story of Anishinaabe culture on behalf of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. He said part of his role is ensuring that the center continues to present that history “with no discrimination.”

“I would just encourage those that have never visited the Ziibiwing Center to come and visit the premier, the Midwest premiere, American Indian Museum,” he said. “It’s my job to make sure that we share who we are and where we come from with the people of the world.”