Anishinaabek:
    The Original People
    of This Place

    Reopening Monday, October 12, 2026

    After years of gathering feedback, planning content, consulting with Tribal leaders and community members, recording voices, designing the space, and constructing the displays, the Grand Rapids Public Museum is proud to welcome visitors into the redesigned Anishinaabek: The Original People of This Place exhibit.

    This new design of the iconic core exhibit was envisioned alongside the Eshtoojik (the ones who create) Advisory Council. It includes cutting-edge technology, vibrant natural elements, Grand River connections, sensory experiences, works by Anishinaabe artists, and a deeper look into topics central to today’s Anishinaabe communities. 

    Get excited to experience the stories, traditions, language, past, present, and future of the Anishinaabe people of Michigan.

    Anishinaabek: The Original People of This Place Educators Guide cover

    Exhibit Educator Guide

    Enhance your group’s visit to Anishinaabek: The Original People of This Place with the Educator’s Guide. Select from a collection of multidisciplinary activities that encourage curiosity, critical thinking, and discovery. Get to know the highlights of the exhibit, learn essential background information, and find projects and questions that ensure your students are making the most of their experience.

    Get the Educator Guide

    Anishinaabe Murals

    While the exhibit is closed for renovations, we are finding other ways to continue telling Anishinaabe stories. Guests can now see three new murals on the third floor exploring the Anishinaabe Creation Story, Modern Anishinaabek of Grand Rapids, and the Seven Grandparent Teachings. Hear from each of the artists by watching the following videos. Stay tuned for the final interview with Brittany Benson.

    Ogitchidaak Wall of Honor Nominations

    Indigenous people join the military at a per capita rate that is higher than that of any other race, serving in every major American conflict since the Revolutionary War. Indigenous people do this for many reasons: early veterans joined to protect their homeland or to gain citizenship. Today, many veterans join for education, career and economic opportunities, or to travel. 
     
    The Ogitichidaak section of the updated Anishinaabek: The Original People of This Place exhibit will include an interactive screen where visitors may view profiles and learn about Anishinaabe veterans. Families are encouraged to nominate Ogitchidaa relatives who have walked on. Any Anishinaabe veteran, past or present, wartime or peacetime, deployed or stateside, is eligible for the Wall of Honor. 
     
    Submitted nomination forms will help us create a base for the exhibit database. After the exhibit opens, additional nominations can be made via a QR code. 
     
    Get the Nomination Form

    About the Redesign

    For over 30 years, the Grand Rapids Public Museum has been proud to welcome students, community members, and visitors to experience the core exhibit Anishinaabek: The People of This Place, created collaboratively with the Anishinaabe people of Michigan. The Museum is excited to welcome you to the redesigned exhibit, Anishinaabek: The Original People of This Place. This redesign and expansion breathe new life into the exhibit for future generations to learn and enjoy. 

    The new design was developed through consultation with Tribal leaders and community members on the Eshtoojik (the ones who create) Advisory Council.

    The redesigned exhibit includes:

    • Updated technology
    • Natural elements
    • Connections to the Grand River
    • Opportunities for visitors to dig deeper into topics central to today’s Anishinaabe communities
    • Unique art from local Anishinaabe artists

    Guests will learn about Anishinaabek culture’s past, present, and future, underscoring that Anishinaabe communities are still here, shaping the future of Turtle Island (our world).

    Digital rendering iof a wall along the exhibit featuring wigwams, trees, organic walls that curve like rivers flowing canoes and post over a fire.
    People in a digital rendering of the future exhibit. One sits on large stones in the center of the space speaking to a child. Another looks at a plaque. Trees and grasses line the edges.
    Aerial view of the future Anishinabek Exhibit. Guests enter into a round space with Tribal flags and then wander down a river-like path through natural elements and plaques

    Exhibit Supported By

    Bay Mills Indian Community Logo
    Michigan Arts and Culture Coouncil Logo
    National Endowment for the Arts logo
    WEGE Foundation logo
    National Endowment for the Arts logo