Mille Lacs Indian Museum and Trading Post celebrates 30 years
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
The Mille Lacs Indian Museum, located off Highway 169 in Onamia, reopened its doors to the public with a new building 30 years ago. Inside, exhibits guide visitors through the story of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe with historical and contemporary displays.
The museum was formed through a partnership between the Minnesota Historical Society and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. A historic trading post is located only a few hundred feet from the museum’s doors.
The Trading Post sells Native American art, books and clothing.
On Saturday, the Minnesota Historical Society and Mille Lacs Band will hold a celebration commemorating the building’s 30th anniversary.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
Long-time site manager Travis Zimmerman said the new building followed the suggestions of a Native American advisory council. The building was designed to flow in circular motions through its exhibits and architecture, a symbol of unity and connection.
“Everything was very purposeful in the way it was structured and put together,” said Zimmerman.
He estimated roughly 10,000 guests visit the museum every year.
Historical site
While the museum opened its current building in 1996, efforts to highlight the tribal community began decades before.
Before the Minnesota Historical Society became involved in the site, there was a history of trade. The Trading Post was founded by settlers Harry and Jeannette Ayer as a general goods store. Zimmerman said the Ayers eventually began purchasing art from the local Native American community and would eventually branch out and buy art from across the United States to sell at their trading post.
The Ayers built a collection of Native American art and artifacts, which eventually went into the hands of the Minnesota Historical Society in 1959.
In 1960, the Minnesota Historical Society opened an exhibition featuring artifacts from the Mille Lacs Band. Zimmerman said both the museum and trading post are currently the longest-running sites in the Minnesota Historical Society system.
One of the museum’s exhibits, the Four Seasons Room, is an immersive experience. The room features a life-size diorama, walking visitors through seasonal changes and traditional activities.
The room was installed in the old museum building in 1964, with the life-sized mannequins added in 1972. It was added to the current building during construction. Mannequins are modeled after Mille Lacs Band members.
“These people aren't just mannequins; they are people from the community that people remember,” Zimmerman said.
Mille Lacs Band member Benji Sam will hold a birch bark art demonstration at Saturday’s event. He said he recognizes one of those faces featured in the Four Seasons Room—his grandfather.
“That's something that is pretty brilliant, to be able to step in and celebrate and see somebody that was a figure and was engaged in some of your earliest core memories,” Sam said. “How cool is that to be able to go somewhere and have a figurine-- to go visit Grandpa again.”
Sam said his grandmothers are also featured in the museum, in an exhibit highlighting women from the Mille Lacs Band who were renowned artists in their medium.
“There's a really — a big sense of belonging for me,” he said when thinking about visiting the museum. Sam added that he frequented the museum as a child, helping his grandmother with birch bark art demonstrations.
For him, it feels like he has come “full circle” while doing his own demonstrations and visiting the museum with his own children.
“I get to show them ‘That's your great-grandmother, or that's your great-great-grandmother, that's your great-grandpa — that figure in this Four Seasons Room,’” he said.
‘Celebration of here and now’
The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe calls itself “non-removable.”
Zimmerman said it’s a reoccurring theme reflected in the museum through its various exhibitions, highlighting both history and contemporary collections.
“The museum's still here, the trading post is still here, the Mille Lacs Band is still here,” said Zimmerman. “It's a thriving community.”
The museum plans to expand its offerings with a new program that will feature an artist each month. Celebrations will continue throughout the remainder of the year commemorating the 30th anniversary.
Sam said the museum is “a celebration of here and now,” which tells the story of how the tribal nation has evolved to where it is today.
“It would be incredible for the museum to continue being a leading life force in preservation of cultural knowledge and traditional crafting and art,” he said.
A 30th Anniversary celebration will take place at the Mille Lacs Museum and Trading Post on Saturday. The event will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will feature walking tours, art demonstrations and behind-the-scenes collection tours.
Chandra Colvin covers Native American communities in Minnesota for MPR News via Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
