Wii-tibaajimong / To Tell a Story

Sam Zimmerman / Zhaawanoogiizhik

Sam Zimmerman / Zhaawanoogiizhik is a Grand Portage Ojibwe direct descendant. His work explores his Ojibwe heritage, his learnings and experiences in nature upon his return to the Grand Portage reservation, while preserving shared oral histories. He shares his experiences with animal, bird, fish and plant relatives while incorporating the natural landscape of Lake Superior's North Shore. Sam focuses on continuing the Anishinaabe tradition of storytelling embedding the themes of environmental stewardship and conservation of the North Shore through his studio and public art commissions.  He has completed public art pieces for the Grand Portage Tribal Nation, Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center, Voyageur National Park, the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Minnesota Twins, and the Duluth and Grand Marais communities as a means to celebrate and share Ojibwe culture and language.

He recently was selected, along with 11 other artists and makers, to participate in a statewide pilot program, (MNPAiR), Minnesota Parks Artists in Residence. Embedding an artist in a park or a park system allowed the selected artists to apply their own creative perspectives and skills to foster a greater sense of belonging. Sam was the artist in residence at Tettegouche State Park in Silver Bay, Minnesota from fall 2024 to fall 2025.

Sam has been the recipient of grant awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board, Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, Northland Foundation Maada’ookiing, and Duluth Superior Community Foundation.  His most recent art, a bilingual coffee table book, is a collection of paintings and stories from his first year of creating along the northern shore of Lake Superior, Following My Spirit Home, published by Blackbear and Blueberries Publishing (April 2022). Following My Spirit Home was a silver finalist for a Midwest Book Award in June 2023.  His newest illustration project is a bilingual Ojibwe / English children’s book, How the Birds Got Their Songs was published by Minnesota Historical Society Press and was awarded the 2025 Heartland Booksellers Award in Picture book category.  Sam’s next bilingual art coffee table book, Walking My Ancestors Path will be released September 2026.

Follow Sam’s studio on Facebook and Instagram @CraneSuperior.