Monarch Butterfly Celebration–Bring your Family!

Fall is an exciting time for the Ziibiwing Center with lots of fun events for kids and their families. The Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways will host a one-day Monarch Butterfly Celebration on Saturday, September 13 from 1pm -5pm. This special monarch day will include a variety of free kid’s activities, face painting, storytelling, door prizes, and much more. Fancy Shawl Dance Presentations will also be held at 1pm and 3pm. The Fancy Shawl dance is sometimes called the “Butterfly Dance” because the women dancers wear brightly colored shawls around their shoulders. The Women’s Fancy Shawl or Butterfly Dance began in the mid 20th century. Intricate beadwork and dresses match the shawls creating beauty in motion as these dancers perform dazzling footwork and spins. At 4pm it will be time to release the butterflies back to Mother Earth. The butterflies will make their migration south for the winter. The Rocky Mountains seem to be the dividing line separating the monarch’s final destinations. The monarch’s living east of the Rocky’s fly to portions of Florida, the coastal areas of Texas, and mostly to Mexico. The Monarch Butterflies from western Canada and the United States migrate to the coastal section of central California. Than in late winter, early spring, the monarch’s leave their winter homes at speeds of 30 miles an hour and return north to the same spot they had originated from. Hopefully we will see the monarch butterflies back at Ziibiwing next spring!

monarch-butterfly.info/Winter.html

The Monarch Butterfly Celebration is in a couple weeks!

Welcome back to school!  Fall is an exciting time for the Ziibiwing Center with lots of fun events for kids and their families.  The Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways will host a one-day Monarch Butterfly Celebration on Saturday, September 12 from 1pm -5pm. This special monarch day will include a variety of free kid’s activities, face painting, storytelling, door prizes, and much more.

Fancy Shawl Dance Presentations will also be held at 1pm and 3pm.  The Fancy Shawl dance is sometimes called the “Butterfly Dance” because the women dancers wear brightly colored shawls around their shoulders. The Women’s Fancy Shawl or Butterfly Dance began in the mid 20^th century.  Intricate beadwork and dresses match the shawls creating beauty in motion as these dancers perform dazzling footwork and spins.

At 4pm it will be time to release the butterflies back to Mother Earth. The butterflies will make their migration south for the winter. The Rocky Mountains seem to be the dividing line separating the monarch’s final destinations.  The monarch’s living east of the Rocky’s fly to portions of Florida, the coastal areas of Texas, and mostly to Mexico.  The Monarch Butterflies from western Canada and the United States migrate to the coastal section of central California.

Than in late winter, early spring, the monarch’s leave their winter homes at speeds of 30 miles an hour and return north to the same spot they had originated from.  Hopefully we will see the monarch butterflies back at Ziibiwing next spring!

monarch-butterfly.info/Winter.html

Help Us Name the ZC Kids Club Turtle!

Hey Kids-

Go to the “Let’s Play” page and help us name the ZC Kids Club Turtle! We will announce the results in a couple weeks. Thanks for helping!

The Ziibiwing Center needs you!

The Ziibiwing Center has been given the authority by the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Council and the Genesee County Land Bank to coordinate an archaeological excavation of the Stone Street site, in Flint, Mich. where American Indian ancestral remains were found in January of 2009. The ancestral human remains will respectfully be sifted from over 76,000 cubic ft. of back dirt piles and reinterred at the site.

We are still looking for individuals and excavation equipment for the Flint Stone Street mitigation effort:

Archaeology & Anthropology Classes or Students • Tribal Delegations • University/College American Indian Student Groups • Security • Food & Beverage Hospitality • Screen & Trowels • Shovels & Rakes • Wheelbarrows

The Flint Stone Street mitigation effort began on Aug. 13 and will continue daily from 8am-4pm all the way through September. Individuals who wish to be a part of this mitigation effort will experience basic archaeological excavation techniques from credential archaeologists and learn about the history of the early Anishinabek occupation of the area. Transportation to and from the site will be provided – call today as seating is limited.

For equipment, monetary, or food donations please contact the Ziibiwing Center’s Administrative Assistant, Dorothea Botimer, at (989)775-4750. 

Help us give our ancestors the respectful burial they deserve!

NativeFest 2009 Enjoyed by Many

NativeFest with this year’s Exclusive Sponsor, National City attracted record numbers to the Ziibiwing Center last week!

The three-day celebration of American Indian heritage kicked off with a bang on Wednesday, Aug. 5, with Car Bingo from 6pm-9pm. The sun shone bright as participants played bingo from the convenience of their very own car or pontoon boat as was the case for a rather rambunctious group of bingo contestants. For only $10 a person for 20 games bingo players were eligible to win such prizes as portable DVD players, Ipod Shuffles, Digital photo frames, merchandise from the Ziibiwing Center’s very own gift shop, and up to $1,000 in gift cards. There were many lucky winners that day of the 210 bingo players in the Ziibiwing Center’s parking lot. One lucky little girl in particular, 3-year-old Rainy, won the grand prize of $1,000.

The following evening the Music & Comedy show was non-stop, fun-filled family entertainment, as the 556 fun-loving guests were regaled with the musical stylings of THE ROCKHOPPERS and Kevin Chamberlain, and amused by the knee-slapping comedy of Buddy Big Mountain. FREE food, kids’ sports bouncers, face painting, and balloon animals were available to all guests in attendance, along with $5 caricatures, photo buttons, and keychains!

To bring NartiveFest to a close on Friday, Aug. 7 there was a Silk Appliqué/Ribbonwork Collection Showing from 10am-3pm. This show displayed select pieces from the Ziibiwing Center’s permanent collection. Many of these items had never before been displayed for a general audience. The event was viewed by 82 CMU students plus 40 guests for a total of 22 people in attendance.

The Ziibiwing Center would like to give a big “Miigwetch” (Thank You) to all those who came out to NativeFest this year!

We hope to see you next year!

For more information on upcoming Ziibiwing Center news and events keep checking back to the Ziibiwing and ZCKids blogs!