Visiting Madeline Island this summer? A new exhibit highlights Ojibwe journey to Great Lakes
LA POINTE, Wis. – The 20-minute ferry ride across Lake Superior’s clear, frigid waters from Bayfield to Madeline Island is a must-do in Wisconsin.
But it’s more than a gateway to summer fun on the Apostle Islands. It’s an opportunity to look back at important Great Lakes history that can help inform the future of the region for generations to come.
And a new exhibit that opened at the Madeline Island Museum does just that. The exhibit, “Passages: Ojibwe migration to the place where the food grows on the water," is a curated collection that tells the story of Ojibwe peoples’ journey to Madeline Island.
It shows that Madeline Island is “a very special place for Ojibwe people, past, present and future,” said Mike Wiggins Jr., site director of the Madeline Island Museum and former chairman of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
The collection blends a diverse set of voices and reinforces “our people’s connectivity to the water and the wild rice,” Wiggins said.
The start of the exhibit highlights the Ojibwe migration journey as they searched for a place to settle where the food grows on water. That prophecy led them from the Atlantic Coast up the St. Lawrence River and ultimately to Lake Superior and Madeline Island. Wiggins said it also shows the resiliency and foresight of Ojibwe people.
The exhibit, which officially opened on May 26, will be open for two years.
Artwork, canoes and a napkin doodle all on display
Among the many items featured are six paintings by Carl Gawboy, a member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa located in what is now northern Minnesota. The paintings chronicle Chief Buffalo’s journey via birchbark canoe from Madeline Island to Washington D.C. to meet with former President Millard Fillmore.
Chief Buffalo’s journey ultimately led to the signing of the Treaty of 1854 on Madeline Island, which established permanent homelands and secured treaty rights to hunt, fish and gather in the ceded off-reservation lands.
The museum exhibit also includes a very personal touch from Wiggins.
When coming up with ideas for the layout, Wiggins drew on a napkin an old Ojibwe story about the area being the nest of the thunderbirds. Without Wiggins knowing, the museum’s graphic designer took the napkin and put the doodle on the bottom of each panel around the room.
Wiggins sees it as “a conversation piece, and a gentle, fun, creative way at seeing the shape of water as it connects to Ojibwe stories.”
There are also two canoes on display: a birchbark canoe with a cedar sail and a white pine dugout canoe. Both were provided by the Great Lakes Lifeways Institute, a regional nonprofit organization that works to revitalize traditional ways of being.
Along with the exhibit, there will be a screening of “Bad River” on the evening of July 9. The documentary, which came out earlier this year, chronicles the Bad River Band’s long history of activism and resistance in the context of its legal battles with Enbridge Energy over the Line 5 oil pipeline. The film features many Bad River Band members, including Wiggins.
More: 'Bad River' documentary about Wisconsin tribe's struggle for rights premieres Friday
Caitlin Looby is a Report for America corps member who writes about the environment and the Great Lakes. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her on X @caitlooby.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New exhibit at Madeline Island Museum displays Ojibwe migration story
