Passages Exhibit

Passages:

Ojibwe Migration to the Place Where the Food Grows on Water

Capser Center Gallery Exhibit

On display during the 2024-2025 Seasons

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Journey to Mooniingwanekaaning

Travel to the ancestral homeland of the Lake Superior Anishinaabe and discover passages through time and place that have long identified Madeline Island as a powerful hub of connection, travel, culture and history.

Exhibit Features

The Ojibwe Arrive-The Island Archipelago

The Migration Journey

Chief Buffalo’s petition to Washington

Chief Buffalo Pipe’s Passage Home

A Journey Drawn: Oshcabawis Pictograph

The 1854 Treaty – Lapointe Band’s Journey
to the Mainland

When the Ojibwe completed their epic journey across land and water to arrive at Mooniingwanekaaning, or Madeline Island, they discovered the incredible “home of the golden-breasted flicker”: an archipelago teeming with fish, wild game, sandy shores, sandstone cliffs and stunning views of the sun, moon and constellations. They also found lush, green beds of manoomin (wild rice)—a staple that, along with other elements, anchored the Apostle Islands as a powerful focal point for trade, travel, connection and more.

In the centuries since the establishment of the Anishinaabe homeland, Madeline Island has served as a waterborne highway, an important destination, and the epicenter of the Ojibwe worldview of the place where the food grows on the water (wild rice). Ojibwe stories and voices share the Anishinaabe history and connections to the Apostle Islands and Lake Superior, and their relationship with Mooniingwanekaaning from the very beginning to the present day.

“Nothing is isolated in the past. Everything is connected to the present and future.”

— Mike Wiggins Jr. (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe)
Madeline Island Museum Director

One word, many spellings

Mooniingwanekaaning
Moningwanakauning
Mooningwanekaaning

In ojibwemowin, it is common to see different variations of spellings for Mooniingwanekaaning and many other words. Spellings change over time and may vary by geography or community. Living languages are fluid and adapt to the changing world around us.

Today, the double vowel system—fiero system—is fast becoming the standardized way to teach the Ojibwe language.

With Ojibwe language in a state of emergency due to the rapid decline in the number of first language speakers (Ojibwe language used from birth) having a standardized spelling system and using Ojibwe immersion (classrooms where the only language spoken is Ojibwe) are two bold strategies that are being used to teach students the Ojibwe language.

In the Passages exhibit, the dug out canoe rests atop a pedestal and flanked by two more recently created canoes, both dug outs. It is only part of the canoe that original existed but has been worn away by time.

The 500-Year-Old Dugout

At the heart of Passages lies a centuries-old, fire-hollowed dugout canoe. Rediscovered by World War II veteran and Madeline Island resident Robert Coffin during an exploratory journey across the Apostle Islands, the vessel has traveled through time to provide visitors with a window into the waterborne legacy of the Anishinaabe.

Wood type: White Pine (Pinus Strobus)
Place of Origin: Madeline Island/Moningwanekaaning
Length: 3.91m (incomplete)

MI1983.237.497.

“The dugout canoe featured was originally tucked up against our museum wall, and we wanted to highlight it and honor it by properly displaying it. When we took it down, turned it right side up and showcased it as what it was—a powerful watercraft—it was an incredible moment.”

— Mike Wiggins Jr. (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe)
Madeline Island Museum Director

Chief Buffalo’s Peace Pipe Returns Home

After the Sandy Lake Tragedy, Chief Buffalo and his men prepared to travel to Washington, D.C.. For this trip, they constructed a new, 26-foot long birchbark canoe and a new “pipe of peace” that was made specifically for the trip. On April 5, 1852, Chief Buffalo departed alongside a delegation of chiefs and headmen to petition President Millard Fillmore against the removal of Ojibwe from ancestral lands.

After the President rescinded the removal order, Chief Buffalo conducted a pipe ceremony and they smoked the pipe of peace together, along with others in the room.

Later, on Madeline Island, Chief Buffalo reminded everyone gathered that the pipe of peace was an enduring emblem of the responsibility of keeping peace in the years to come.

After 159 years, the pipe was returned intact in wooden stem and pipestone from a private collection to the Red Cliff Nation for all Anishinaabeg people.

“The pipe, a new one brought for the purpose, was filled and lighted by Buffalo and passed to the President, who took two or three draughts from it, and smiling, said, ‘Who is the next?’”

— Benjamin G. Armstrong, Interpreter for the Ojibwe
The Oskabewis Pictograph - Symbolic Petition of Chippewa Chiefs The image seen here was copied by artist Seth Eastman in 1849 and printed in Henry Rowe Schoolcraft's The History of the Indian Tribes of the United States, Historical and Statistical Information Respecting the History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States (Philadelphia, 1851)

A Journey, Drawn

The Oshcabawis Pictograph

Originally crafted on birch bark by the Ojibwe before being redrawn, the pictograph on display in Passages is a powerful visual interpretation of the connection between various doodems (clans) and their united goal of retaining permanent and meaningful homelands in the place where food grows on the water.

The Oskabewis Pictograph - Symbolic Petition of Chippewa Chiefs. A series of animal figures representing the doodems (clans) of the Anishinaabee stand in a line facing to the right, walking upon the symbolic representation of water and land.
Copied by artist Seth Eastman in 1849 and printed in Henry Rowe Schoolcraft’s The History of the Indian Tribes of the United States, Historical and Statistical Information Respecting the History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States (Philadelphia, 1851).

The original image, created on birch bark by the Ojibwe, was carried by Oshcabawis to Washington, DC, in 1849 when the tribe petitioned US president James K. Polk to adjust boundaries of the 1842 LaPointe treaty. It was intended as a sort of letter of reference, depicting the delegation’s authority to speak for the Lake Superior bands. In the decades that followed, it was also used by the Ojibwe to explain the Sandy Lake tragedy of 1850–1851, and ultimately, Chief Buffalo’s 1852 petition to President Millard Fillmore. The animal figures represent the various doodems (clans), determined by family lineage, whose representatives made the historic appeal. The lines connect the hearts and minds of the various doodems (clans) to manoomin (wild rice), signifying the unity of the delegation’s purpose.
1. Osh-ca-ba-wis- Chief and leader of the delegation, representing the Crane doodem (the first animal in the painting, the only animal in the blue to match the water)
2. Wai-mi-tig-oazh- He of the Wooden Vessel, a warrior of the Marten doodem (second in line, in a golden color)
3. O-ge-ma-gee-zhig-Skiy- Chief, a warrior of the Marten doodem (following directly behind the second Marten dooem, also in a golden color)
4. Muk-o-mis-ud-ains- A warrior of the Marten doodem (following behind the 3rd Marten and walking on all fours instead of upright)
5. O-mush-kose- Little Elk, of the Bear doodem (placed directly above the 3rd Marten doodem in a dark brown color, slightly curled up and sleepy looking)
6. Pensai-see Little Bird, of the Man-Fish doodem (Placed second to last in line, almost appears as though floating on their back in a red orange color with long hair and a tail as well as legs)
7. Na-wa-je-wun Strong Stream, of the Catfish doodem (Last in line, also appears somewhat floating and is a green color with stripes)
8. Manoomin (wild rice) waters (they fall below the back of the line below the river and appear as a series of 4 teal blobs connected by a river of different widths between them.)
Gigawabamin menawaa (we'll see you again)

The Passages exhibit is supported in part by the Friends of the Madeline Island Museum with a generous contribution from the Coffin Family in memory of Robert P. Coffin.

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