The Lac du Flambeau Collections Preservation Master Plan

FAIN: PF-230244-15

Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (Lac du Flambeau, WI 54538-9124)
Teresa Mitchell (Project Director: December 2014 to December 2016)

A planning project to assess the tribal museum’s collections policies, storage environments, building condition, and environmental control systems to ensure sustainable preservation of a unique collection of materials on Ojibwe art, history, and culture, which include ethnographic items, both ceremonial and utilitarian, and an archive of tribal records, manuscripts, and photographs.

The George W. Brown Jr. Ojibwe Museum and Cultural Center in Lac du Flambeau, WI, owned and operated by the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, is seeking a planning grant for $50,000 for the development of the LDF Collections Preservation Master Plan. The Museum, a cultural centerpiece since its opening in 1989, has since grown beyond anything the Tribe initially imagined. With a collection three times its original size, we are experiencing challenges with the building envelope, systems and fixtures as they relate to sustainable preservation of the collection, and we have the new challenge of incorporating planning the building of our new Waaswaagoning Cultural Center into preservation planning. The Master Plan, with the oversight of a diverse inter-disciplinary planning committee, will assess the current facility and systems and its capacity to protect our unique collection, and will lay out prioritized action steps for enhancing its sustainable preservation.