Museum Review: Ziibiwing Center

Last week I visited the Ziibiwing Center in Mt. Pleasant. It was an incredible museum and I learned a lot about the history and culture of the represented Native American tribes. The museum’s exhibits were wonderfully arranged, informational and interactive. It was thought provoking for me to see first hand the impacts colonization had on the tribes, and how it is still affecting them today. The museum has a strong community connection because of the close proximity and affiliation with Mt. Pleasant and CMU. Many community members were featured in exhibits in pictures and videos, and there was an entire section of the museum that was dedicated to the younger generations of tribe members in school. I thought that the museum was very eye opening and that everyone in Mt. Pleasant should visit to get a new perspective on tolerance, diversity and respect to others and to nature.

As far as accessibility goes, the museum could use some improvement. Some areas of the museum were very narrow, so I imagine that people with wheelchairs or other special physical needs would have some difficulty navigating and fully experiencing some exhibits. The signage in the museum definitely could have been better; it was unclear where to go when first entering the museum and some exhibit labels were hard to find as well. The movie playing in the theatre did not have subtitles, and I also did not notice any Braille. However, there were lots of audio/video recordings throughout the museum that were related to the exhibit. That is good for people with visual and auditory issues, but in my opinion the recordings were played way too loud, which made it harder to focus on reading and having conversations. I also did not see any staff members in the museum except for the two or three people in the front, who were very friendly and welcoming.