Museum of Ojibwa Culture
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| Located next to Marquette Mission Park, this 1837 former Catholic Church has displays that illuminate the life of Indians who lived in the region before Europeans arrived. |
On the shores of Lake Huron, this intelligently done small museum is in a former Catholic church, erected in 1837 and moved here from its original site in the center of town. Today it's owned by the city of St. Ignace. The front gallery focuses on the cultural values of the Ojibwa people: "A society of kinsmen, a society of gifts, a society of equals, and a society of nature." To survive, people shared, and families were strong.
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| A Huron Indian longhouse, a year-round dwelling used centuries before Europeans arrived in the area. |
The second gallery shows the simple subsistence culture of the Ojibwa, who were early inhabitants of the upper Great Lakes. Exhibits depict their ingenuity in surviving in a cold, harsh climate and getting life's necessities from the fish, plants, and animals around them. In the rear gallery, the exhibit "Currents of Change in the Straits" deals with the arrival of Huron and Odawa (refugees from the east, fleeing the Iroquois in the 1840s) and how they adapted their cultures to this new land.
themselves with their ancestors' culture, which had been effectively suppressed for generations in most families. Information about classes comes out in May or June. You can ask to get on the mailing list. Topics include appliqué techniques, beadworking, ground-fired clay pottery, an Ojibwe language introduction, and birch bark containers. Return to St. Ignace
Shortly after that, in the 1660s and 1670s, the French arrived, seeking beaver fur for fashionable hats. French traders and voyageurs were introducing changes that would forever destroy native peoples' way of life, which was difficult but ecologically balanced. The museum takes the native people's viewpoint and shows how they allied with the French against their common British enemy.
Local students, mostly tribal members, learn about the medicine wheel before arranging rocks (in back of truck) to form a medicine wheel garden.
Visitors can look inside a longhouse, the year-around dwellings of the Hurons. It’s outside the Museum of Ojibwa Culture at Marquette Mission Park. There’s no fee to see it or other parts of the grounds.
The museum grounds and Marquette Mission Park are another, different kind of museum, open at all hours and throughout the year. A full-scale Huron longhouse is a highlight. See Marquette Mission Park.
500 N. State, at downtown's north end, across from Kiwanis Park. (906) 643-9161. Open from Mem. Day thru mid Oct and by appointment. Hours in June, Sept & Oct: Mon-Sat 9:30-5, Sun 10:30 to 5. July & Aug: daily 9-6. June. Suggested donation: adult or teen $2, elementary $1, others free.
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POINTS OF INTEREST
Bridgeview Park. Great views up at the Mackinac Bridge from a pleasant park with picnic shelters. Interesting historical video monitors and pictures with text about the bridge and previous transporation across the Straits are in an enclosed pavilion with restrooms. ... more
Museum of Ojibwa Culture. See how Ojibwa social values and their subsistence culture adapted to the climate. View change at the Straits in the 1660s from the native perspective of indigeous Ojibwa and Odawa and Huron newcomers, when the French fur trade was moving in. A fine small museum. ... more
Marquette Mission Park. The peaceful park has well-done interpretive panels about the Straits history of Ojibwa, Odawa, and Huron people and Father Marquette's Catholic mission, possibly at this very location. An authentic Huron longhouse and Ojibwa tipi are open without charge. ... more
Native Expressions Ojibwa Museum Store. This peaceful shop carries traditional crafts (quill work, baskets, more) plus certified contemporary Native American art. Here too is the U.P.'s largest selection of books and music about Eastern Woodland Indians and French-Canadian Great Lakes history ... more
Downtown St. Ignace. Downtown highlights: an interesting book and magazine store, a shop with antique lighting and furniture, and a choice arcade of shops ... more
Huron Boardwalk. A mile-long harborfront path with benches shows off a busy harbor and has Mackinac Island views. Interpretive signs and a Mackinaw boat convey the area's rich history ... more
American Legion Veterans Memorial Park. A waterfront park with picnic area, telescope, popular play structure, and beach often used by scuba divers visiting shipwrecks. At the nearby Star Dock, Mackinaw Parasailing ... more
Sunset Cruise or Vespers Cruise under the Mackinac Bridge. 1-hour narrated ferryboat cruise or vespers cruise take visitors under the Mackinac Bridge and out into Lake Michigan for seeing the sunset. ... more
Coast Guard Cutter Biscayne Bay. Docked at St. Ignace, this modern icebreaking harbor tug clears the Straits for freighter traffic each year and is occasionally open for scheduled tours ... more
Dock #3 Park. Former staging area for the car ferry neeed before the Mackinac Bridge, this uncroded park is a nice place for picnics and a view of the Coast Guard Cutter Biscayne Bay. ... more
St. Ignace trolley tour. 2 1/2-hour tour of area on 30-person bus goes across the bridge for Mackinaw City sights as well as St. Ignace's ... more
US-2 Mackinaw Bridge to Naubinway. A terrific introduction to the U.P. after crossing the Bridge, long vistas revealing one shoreline point after another emerge ... more
MANLEY'S FISH MARKET. Outstanding fresh and smoked whitefish, homemade jerky, and beef sticks. They can be eaten at picnic tables on a pleasant, shady lawn ... more
John Herbon Pottery Studio. John Herbon and three fellow potters work and show here. John's classic shapes are simply embellished with lizards, fish, ... more
Jabber Joe's. Offbeat variety/antique shop with frozen custard, too. Strong on candy, repro toys. ... more
Castle Rock. Stairs lead to the top of a natural limestone tower with a grand view of St. Martin Island, St. Ignace, and Mackinac ferries. A great family roadside attraction ... more
Horseshoe Bay Wilderness Trail/Hiawatha National Forest. A one-mile hiking trail through a mixed forest and wetland leads to a secluded Lake Huron beach, part of the 3,800-acre Horseshoe Bay Wilderness within the Hiawatha National Forest. ... more
Carp River Canoe Trail. An easy, scenic trout stream for family paddling with informal campsites by the river ... more
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