Mille Lacs Indian Museum & Trading Post - Onamia, Minnesota
Mille
This isn’t your typical quick stop museum. It is one that will walk you through the changes in the Ojibwe tribe and how life was and is for them. After the white man came to the area the Ojibwe were forced into poverty, they retained their pride but the lifestyles they had to live were not good.
In order to share their culture and pride with others they have built a world-class museum filled with videos, computer interactive, listening stations and objects from traditional and contemporary Ojibwe culture. There you will be exposed to traditions of language, music, dance and art. There are items showing off the lives of Band members, past and present.
When you have gone through the museum, visited with the elders, perhaps learned how to do beading or make moccasins, you may have the opportunity to go to the Four Seasons Room. Admittance to this room is only with a member of the tribe as a guide. There you will enter a stunning life-size diorama, depicting the traditional Ojibwe activities during each season of the year and the camps they lived in. There are displays of hunting and spear fishing in the winter, maple sugaring in the spring, gardening and berry picking in the summer and wild rice harvesting in the fall.
The museum crafts room serves as a demonstration area for traditional cooking, birch-bark basketry and beadwork.
There is an old restored 1930’s trading post at the site too. This has been restored by the tribe with care and detail. There are still the fun things to look at and buy for souvenirs at the Trading Post.
Location:
Admission: $7 adults, $6 Seniors, enlisted military and college students, $4 children 6-17 and Free for the little guys 5 and under. Different fees may apply for special events and special programming.
Open: Year around
Phone: 320-532-3632
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