The University of Michigan Museum of Art will be open on Monday, October 10th 11am-5pm, in recognition of Indigenous People’s Day. Though the museum is normally closed on Mondays, UMMA will be open on October 10th as an invitation for visitors to spend time with two current exhibitions featuring artwork by Indigenous artists: Future Cache and Watershed.

Future Cache features paintings by artist Andrea Carlson. A large memorial wall details a statement from the Cheboiganing (Burt Lake) Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, who were violently burned from their land in Northern Michigan on October 15, 1900. The text, emblazoned in silver and gold on UMMA’s 3-story-tall Vertical Gallery wall, is translated in alternating lines of Anishinaabemowin (the first language of this land) and English. Encircling the gallery above reads, in a sense, a land acknowledgement: it states, simply, “Gidayaa Anishinaabewakiing / You are on Anishinaabe land.” This is not only a pointed reminder for non-Indigenous visitors that the spaces they inhabit daily are on Indigenous land, but also an invitation to Anishinaabe visitors to feel welcome.

The exhibition Watershed focuses on the interconnected histories, present lives, and imagined futures of the Great Lakes region, which have been heavily influenced by the Indigenous communities that have lived there time immemorial. Three Indigenous artists featured in Watershed—Bonnie Devine, Michael Belmore, and Andrea Carlson—explore themes related to Anishinaabe origin stories, violent colonial histories of settlement, and the continued monetization of Indigenous land. The exhibition also features labels and wall text translated into Anishinaabemowin, a first for the Museum.

As of 2022, several states–including Michigan–officially recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day either alongside or in place of Columbus Day. The city of Ann Arbor has been recognizing it since 2015. Learn more about the holiday from the National Museum of the American Indian.