Visit to the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation – Anishinabek News

April 6, 2020

M’CHIGEENG FIRST NATION— Founded in 1974 with a mandate to preserve and renew Anishinabek culture, language, arts, traditions and spirituality for the people of Mnidoo Mnising and its environs, the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation (OCF) holds a museum, art gallery and gift shop, an Ojibwe immersion kindergarten and Canada’s first all Anishinaabemowin radio station. It also offers language resources, traditional cooking lessons, a healing lodge and a large performance space. The effort to provide these services continues despite facing financial challenges.

On Feb. 19, 2020, the OCF gave Kevin Restoule, Government Relations Coordinator at the Anishinabek Nation and researcher Laurie Leclair a tour of its archaeological holdings. Executive Director Evan O’Leary, Finance Officer Sophie Corbiere, and Archivist and Program Coordinator Naomi Recollect opened the small but well-kept facility that houses a wealth of archaeological collections, painting and beadwork, baskets and other culturally significant items. They answered questions about the artifacts, accession and issues over repatriation. Following the tour and considering all of the various cultural activities the foundation hosts, Restoule remarked, “The OCF appears to be much more than a simple storage facility for archaeological collections or even more than just a museum. They are a caring, culturally appropriate home for Anishinaabe Sacred Items.”

Read More: http://anishinabeknews.ca/2020/04/06/visit-to-the-ojibwe-cultural-foundation/