Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute, Indigenous cultural center and museum in Oujé-Bougoumou, Canada.
The Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute is a building that brings together multiple functions in one space: a museum, library, archive, and educational rooms. It holds collections of objects and documents that preserve and display the history and knowledge of the Cree people.
The institute opened in 2011 to help the Cree of James Bay manage and preserve their cultural heritage. It grew from the community's desire to control their own history and future direction.
The Cree name Aanischaaukamikw is written ᐋᓂᔅᒑᐅᑲᒥᒄ in Cree syllabics. The institute's mission is to maintain, share, gather, practise and celebrate Cree culture, presenting the history, music, legends and objects of the Cree of Eeyou Istchee Baie-James and their relationship with the land. Its collection is split into a permanent main collection and a living collection used for public display and education.
The institute stands in the middle of Oujé-Bougoumou, in the Nord-du-Québec region of Quebec, and its many windows face the village. The building was designed to use geothermal heating and cooling, and its orientation and geometry reduce energy use. A virtual tour of the facilities was posted online in 2022, so the collections can be viewed remotely.
The building's design draws on the traditional Cree longhouse and an animal ribcage, with a curved roof of laminated spruce beams. Architects Douglas Cardinal and Rubin Rotman led the project, and Cree artist Tim Whiskeychan made a stained-glass window for the institute. Its geothermal heating and cooling helped it earn LEED Silver certification.
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