Native American Film Series
If you missed Apache 8 don't fret...there are still two great films to go! Next up is Feature Film, Smoke Signals, based on the "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven," by Sherman Alexie. This is the first film written, directed, and acted completely by American Indians. Smoke Signals was critically acclaimed as one of the best films of the year and a distinguished winner at the Sundance Film Festival.
Thursday, November 3
7:00 -- 9:00 FREE
Off the Rez
Thursday, December 1
7:00 -- 9:00 FREE
Thanks to Reel Pizza, for making this event possible.
Photo Caption: Shoni Schimmel and her mother and coach, Cecilee Moses. Courtesy of Hock Films
Twisted Path II is Now Open!
Twisted Path II: Contemporary Native American Art Informed by Tradition is now
open! This beautiful exhibition opened on October 21st, and we were lucky to have all five artists join us for the opening reception! Also joining us that evening were Twisted Path's co-curators, Abenaki artist Rick Hunt and Abbe Museum Curator of Education Raney Bench. Guests that evening enjoyed remarks by both curators, as well as the opportunity to meet the artists: Leon Sockbeson, George Neptune, Sarah Sockbeson, Max Sanipass Romero, and Rhonda Besaw. Stop in soon to see these inspiring artworks. This exhibit is made possible with support from The First and the Fisher Charitable Trust. Twisted Path II, open October 2011 through May 2012, is an invitational contemporary art show featuring Native artists from the Northeast. Co-Curators, Rick Hunt & Raney Bench say this about the show:
Native American artists have pushed the boundaries of what is considered traditional art for many years, often facing criticism for working with new materials or creating new designs. There is a perception that Native art is static; that it should never change, or is somehow less authentic with the introduction of new ideas and materials. But, what is traditional? Are glass beads, introduced by Europeans and purchased at trading posts, traditional? What about a basket made to hold eye glasses? Who decides, and how is that decision made?
As co-curator, Rick Hunt, Abenaki, relates,
I am always impressed by how functional pieces can move toward decorative and purposeful design. In this show, it is evident that the pieces reflect a movement away from tradition and become a reflection of the artists’ own personal psychology. There are beautiful ash baskets and Pop Art-type beaded bags, and even contemporary fashion design evolving from traditional northeast Native clothing.
When the first Twisted Path show was conceived, through a technicolor dream of mine, it was envisioned as an exhibit that would highlight the idea of the Native artist evolving and often struggling in this Westernized society. Questions about Native identity, spirituality, art, and traditions emerged. What was illustrated by that first show, and this one, is that Native people and our culture are very much alive and well and here to stay.
Twisted Path II continues the dialogue that introduced the broader society to the concept of the “modern Indian.” Native traditions have grown and evolved, allowing the adaptation and incorporation of new ideas, methods, and concepts into Native culture.
As a result, Native artists are allowed to step out of the confines of entrenched stereotypes in ways that let him or her maintain the integrity of their tribal identity. As such, Native artists are invited and encouraged to explore concepts of modern popular art that can contain distinctive yet subtle flavors of ancient cultures.
Twisted Path II: Contemporary Native American Art Informed by Tradition exhibits the work of five Wabanaki artists from New England. Their work, inspired by traditional materials, methods, and designs breaks from tradition in important ways, becoming a form of expression unique to each artist.
Image Caption: Details of art displayed in Twisted Path II. Listed from top to bottom, 1. Max Sanipass Romero Assimilation Revisited, 2. Rhonda Besaw Fiddleheads, 3. George Neptune Chocolate Wedding Cake, 4. LEON Untitled Sketches, 5. Sarah Sockbeson Untitled Basket. To learn more about the artists, please click here.
Other News & Events for November
calendar for more details.
If you are in the MDI area this week, make sure to visit us on Thursday, November 3 for the free screening of Smoke Signals which will begin at 7:00.
Soon thereafter the Maine Arts Commission will host a grants workshop. Senior Grants Associate Kathy Ann Shaw will be available to answer questions about funding. She will be joined by Kathleen Mundell, Traditional Arts Specialist, to provide specific information about the agency's traditional arts programs especially those Maine's native communities. The brown bag lunch presentation will take place Monday, November 14 from noon - 2:00 and there is no need to register. More info is available here.
Other events and demonstrations will follow soon thereafter, so make sure to mark your calendar now!
There are also a number of upcoming Wabanaki events that are open to the public. The following links are a sample of some upcoming activities and recent articles that may interest you. Know of more? Feel free to post them on our Facebook page!
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Next Up: Annual Maine Indian Basketmakers
Sale and Demonstration
Hudson Museum, Collins Center for the Arts
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Were Salem's Men Witches' Victims of Politics?
Research by Dr. Mary Beth Norton claims
convicted men were all associated with the Wabanaki
Read the Indian Country Today Article.
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American Anthropological Association, 110th Annual Meeting
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Penobscot River Restoration Project Recognized
Read the Bangor Daily News Article
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Old Town mill seeks to change emissions standards
Read the article in The Maine Campus, citing the reaction of Penobscot Nation Natural Resources Director, John Banks
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From The Bangor Daily News
Help Passamaquoddies by voting for a racino in Calais
Portland Press Herald Letter of the Day by Diane Barnes
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Read the article from CBC News
Residential School Survivors Share their Stories
Halifax Media Co-op
Learn more from the Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada website about the Atlantic National Event held last week
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Indian Country Today Media Network
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Maliseets to partner with Houlton on additional road work
in the Bangor Daily News
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Tobique First Nation Maliseet Language Project
read about it in CBC News
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The Daily Gleaner
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For those of you in Massachusetts:
Lowell Folklife Series presents lecture on Native American Woodlands Folklife ; November 5th at 2 PM
North American Indian Center in Boston
Boston Globe
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For those of you in New Jersey:
Howell Township Library hosts Micmac exhibition dancer
Asbury Park Press
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Social Media for Social Good Panel Discussion
Camden, Maine, November 5th
Read about it in Village Soup
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University of New England
Donna M. Loring Lecture Series
If you missed these lectures, you can download them
from iTunes for FREE!
Follow the link above for more information.
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David Moses Bridges Canoe Maker Video
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CTV
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Official formation of the Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation Band announced by Canadian Federal Government
read about it in The Coaster
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Visit penobscotculture.com to read
classic Penobscot books online!
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Traditional Arts Funding Workshop
If you have ever had questions about funding available through the Maine Arts Commission (www.mainearts.com) then help is just around the corner. Kathy Ann Shaw, Senior Grants Associate will be visiting Bar Harbor in November to provide the answers. She will be joined by Kathleen Mundell, Traditional Arts Specialist, to provide specific information about the agency’s traditional arts programs especially those Maine’s native communities.
This free brown bag workshop will take place from 12 noon and 2 pm on Monday November 14, 2011, and will be hosted by the Abbe Museum in downtown Bar Harbor. The Abbe offers innovative exhibitions and programs on Maine’s Native American heritage. In recent years, the Abbe has grown from a small but lovely trailside museum, privately operated within Acadia National Park, to an exciting contemporary museum in the heart of downtown Bar Harbor. The Museum (www.abbemuseum.org) is located at 26 Mount Desert Street. Bar Harbor, ME 04609. For more information on the exhibitions featured during the workshop please visit: http://www.abbemuseum.org/pages/exhibitions/exhibitions-overview.html.
Kathy and Kathleen will present basic information about the Maine Arts Commission’s grant programs. The presentation will include a review of the National Endowment for the Arts as needed and will feature tips and tricks for grant writing. This will be an informal gathering which will allow participants to ask specific questions and steer the presentation in the direction most helpful to them. There is no need to register. For further information please contact Kathy at 207/287-2750 or kathy.shaw@maine.gov. The Abbe Museum can be reached at 207/ 288-3519.Tea, Popovers, & Archaeology
| Tea, Popovers, & Archaeology is sponsored by The Acadia Corporation. |
This year, Dr. John G. Crock, a Bar Harbor native and Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Vermont, will present his research on the archaeology of the small islands of the northern Lesser Antilles where population growth 1,000 years ago was supported by a heavy reliance on seafood, interisland trade, and a religious ideology unique to the Caribbean.
The small islands of the northern Lesser Antilles were some of the first to be settled by sedentary fisher-farmers during the Early Ceramic Age, as early as 500 B.C. Extensive networks of trade and exchange connected island communities with other islands and with their ancestral mainland "home." Over the next millennium, as populations grew and adapted to specific local island environments, systems of exchange developed to support a rapid growth in the number of newly established communities. Higher volumes of differentially available raw materials and finished products were transshipped between islands. By the late Ceramic Age, ca. A.D. 600-1500, Amerindians in these small islands were as maritime-adapted as any in the world, as reflected by their food remains and the off-island origin of materials used to manufacture stone tools, ceramics, adornments and religious paraphernalia. The same interisland systems that supported the subsistence and material needs of coastal communities also supported the maintenance of social networks and cultural connections, both within the northern Lesser Antilles and between the small islands and the Greater Antilles to the west. Archaeologically, this cultural relationship is reflected in the shared importance of ceremonial cave sites, and artifacts that express a broadly shared religious ideology and view of the island world, including three-pointed stone idols, shell ornaments, and decorated ceramics.
Field School in Archaeology: Another Successful Season of Excavation
In mid-August, another successful summer of excavation drew to a close. Artifacts and food animal bones were abundant and now artifacts are back in the lab to be processed so that researchers can piece together the larger picture of life on coastal Maine thousands of years ago.
To learn more about the Abbe Museum Field School in Archaeology, follow these links:
by Abbe Museum Intern, Hannah Wellman
Other News & Events for September
There is always something happening at the Abbe, and this fall and winter are no exception! Please visit our online calendar for more details.
If you are in the MDI area this week, make sure to visit Jordan Pond (or the Downtown Abbe in the case of rain) between 11:00-4:00 on Wednesday (September 14) where Passamaquoddy birch bark artist David Moses Bridges will be presenting with his birch bark canoe! Or stop by the Downtown Abbe Museum on Friday, September 15th between 10:00-11:00 to visit with artist Erik Sappier, Penobscot, as he demonstrates the art of chip carving. And popular annual events such as Tea, Popovers, & Archaeology or the Native American Film Series are quickly approaching, so make sure to mark your calendar now!
There are also a number of upcoming Wabanaki events that are open to the public. The following links are a sample of some upcoming activities and recent articles that may interest you. Know of more? Feel free to post them on our Facebook page!
Next Up: Common Ground Country Fair
Native American Arts Area
10-6, Monday-Saturday during the growing season.
Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians
31st Annual Recognition Day Celebration
Saturday, September 17
Events scheduled 8:00-400 at the Recognition Day Field (Bell Road)
Community Feast & Bonfire 5pm at Maliseet Gym (Foxcroft Road)
All Welcome!
Exhibit Opening September 24 at the Hudson Museum
Transcending Traditions:
The Next Generation and Maine Indian Basketry
Coming to the Abbe in May 2012
Collaborative Seeks Help to Keep
in Maine Ahead
Read Stories in the Rock about petroglyphs in Maine in the
October Issue of Downeast Magazine...on stands now!
Exhibit Evokes Gilded Age Dichotomy
in the Mount Desert Islander
in the Mount Desert Islander
Abbe Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary with Free Admission
in the Bar Harbor Times
Passamaquoddy artist honored nationally,
in the Bangor Daily News
Upcoming Exhibit: Twisted Path II
Twisted Path II: Contemporary Native American Art Informed by Tradition is an invitational contemporary art show featuring Native artists from the Northeast, including:
Rhonda Besaw, Abenaki
George Neptune, Passamaquoddy
Max Romero, Mi'kmaq & Laguna/Taos Pueblo
Leon Sockbeson, Passamaquoddy
Sarah Sockbeson, Penobscot
The exhibition is co-curated by Rick Hunt, Abenaki, and Raney Bench, Curator of Education at the Abbe Museum. Rick and Raney worked together on the first Twisted Path, when they wrote these words describing the show:
Throughout North America, Native people balance the importance of tribal identity and knowledge with the demands of the non-Native communities that surround them. Art serves as one means of survival, expressing a wide range of emotions and experiences, from hopes and fears for the future, to dreams and anger about the past. Breaking away from stereotypes of Native American art and what is "traditional." the work of contemporary Native artists proves that art and culture are not static, but constantly evolving. Borrowed from traditional beadworking, the term "twisted path" is a pattern that meanders along the edge of an object. Here, it is a visual metaphor for the different paths Native American artists walk as they navigate a complex world.
Reflections on a Decade Downtown
be Museum moving the collections from Sieur de Monts to the state of the art collections facility at the new downtown building. 10 years later, we asked Julia what possibilities became realities with the construction of the "new" Abbe Museum:A couple of recent things come to mind that would not have been possible without the downtown Abbe:
During the field school, we had a day where the weather was too wet and cool to work on the site. We were able to bring the 20+ participants to the museum for the day to broaden their learning experience. Some worked in the archaeology lab washing and sorting artifacts. Others worked in the learning lab/family circle, identifying animal bones and describing stone arrow and spear points. At mid-day, local archaeologist and Abbe research associate Dr. Rick Will gave a flint-knapping demonstration, and both field school participants and museum guests were treated to an entertaining and informative presentation. There is no way we could have accommodated this group or shared the experience with our guests at the small museum at Sieur de Monts.
Last week I got a phone call from a basket researcher from Santa Fe who is going to be in town this week, and was hoping to take a look at our collection, especially the birch bark pieces. If we were still at Sieur de Monts, with collections stored in plastic totes in the basement, it would have taken much more time to accommodate this visit, and space would have been a major challenge. With the wonderful collections storage facility at the downtown Abbe, I will be able to bring the researcher through the collection, he will be able to see virtually every piece we have at a glance, and if he wants to take a closer look at any particular objects, we have all the space in the archaeology lab available, not just a small table in a dark basement!
Earlier this year, we were able to accept the donation of a collection of objects and associated material made by ethnohistorian and anthropologist Alvin Morrison. The collection, which features primarily Wabanaki and Iroquois objects from the second half of the 20th century, adds wonderfully to our collection, and we would not have been able to accept this collection if we did not have the collections storage space here at the downtown Abbe. A couple of real gems in the collection: a series of small-scale models of a Maliseet basket maker going through the various steps of making a basket, from harvesting the ash tree to weaving the basket; a collection of note cards sold by the Mi'kmaq at the Big Cove Reserve in New Brunswick, featuring prints designed and created by a Mi'kmaq artist, depicting Mi'kmaq stories and legends
An exhibit like Indians & Rusticators would never have been possible at the Sieur de Monts museum, and perhaps most importantly, the downtown Abbe gives local guests the chance to experience the exhibit during the off-season.
Thank You for Making it all Possible...
| Eagle's Nest Basket #1 by Fred Tomah, Maliseet |
What makes the Downtown Abbe Museum special and the experience unique? Here are some thoughts, shared by Abbe Museum staff, about how a second location in downtown Bar Harbor has changed the Abbe experience for the better:
Collections Care has improved dramatically:
One of the big drivers behind plans for a new Abbe Museum facility was the desire to provide improved care for and access to the collections. The downtown Abbe Museum has been largely successful in these two goals. It has also allowed the museum to accept important collections that we would not have had the space for otherwise.
Thousands of school children are served annually:
Due to the size of the building at Sieur de Monts, classes had to take place outside, so there was a limited season in which we could have students. Teachers were told not to come if it was raining. At the "new" Abbe students can visit throughout the year. We have expanded our course offerings to include programs for all grade levels on seven different topics, which all meet state learning requirements. In addition, the new facility has allowed us to host teacher training workshops, bringing teachers together with Wabanaki leaders for direct learning experiences.
Public programming has expanded with the new facility: Demonstrations with Wabanaki artists and musicians take place throughout the summer months downtown, but the facility also allowed the Abbe to expand our program calendar from summers to a full twelve months. We now host brown bag lunch lectures through the middle of winter, a film series in the fall, children's workshops in the early spring and winter, and exhibit openings throughout the year.
These and many other accomplishments are being celebrated this year. The following is an attempt to distill our achievements into a simple Top Ten Countdown:
10.
The Abbe enhances cultural tourism in Maine as a destination experience for the State; we enrich the visitor experience and we contribute to the local economy.
9.
Since 2001, we’ve served over 250,000 people; over 25% of these were schoolchildren.
8.
Exhibit and program space is accessible to all people and we’ve greatly improved the visitor experience.
7.
We can accommodate tour groups year-round and student visits during the school year and we travel to the four corners of the state, delivering educational content in classrooms.
6.
We have instructed over 500 teachers in our workshops, helping them implement LD291 - the Wabanaki Initiative - in the classroom. LD291 celebrates 10 years as state law this year too.
5.
The downtown Abbe offers more space for changing exhibitions and for multiple shows, resulting in over 30 exhibitions.
4.
The Abbe Museum at Sieur de Monts Spring has been preserved as the historic gem that it is and it continues to engage our seasonal visitors.
3.
Our 50,000 piece collection is now stored in a museum-quality environment and we have intellectual control over the collection.
2.
The Abbe gift shop is an economic engine, sending money back into tribal communities and offering a unique shopping experience.
1.
We are now a year-round presence in downtown Bar Harbor, enriching the quality of life for our communities by offering innovative programs, and educational exhibits for all life-long learners.
Thank you for your continued support and generosity, as we celebrate this important milestone.
Abbe Museum Celebrates 10 Years Downtown!
In September 2001, after a successful capital campaign, the Abbe Museum opened its “new” location in a renovated space that once housed the town’s YMCA. The original Abbe, a historic trail-side museum at Sieur de Monts Spring in Acadia National Park, opened in 1928 and is still open seasonally. The new downtown museum provides proper space for the 50,000 piece collection, multiple galleries for changing exhibitions and year-round educational programs and activities for the community. Over the past decade the Abbe Museum has hosted thousands of school children, tour groups, visitors, families, artists, and educators in the comfortable, contemporary spaces of the new facility.
To thank everyone who helped to bring the Abbe downtown and for the community’s continued support, this September the Downtown Abbe will commemorate its 10th anniversary by offering 10 nights of free admission. Earlier this summer the museum opened a blockbuster exhibition entitled: Indians & Rusticators: Wabanakis and Summer Visitors on Mount Desert Island 1840s-1920s. The show, which is up until the end of 2012, offers visitors an opportunity to “step back in time” and experience Bar Harbor a century ago. By staying open late and offering free admission, local residents will have a unique opportunity to experience this and other exhibits that reflect the history of our region. As the busy Bar Harbor summer turns to fall, everyone is invited to help us celebrate by enjoying a free evening of cultural enjoyment at the Abbe in downtown Bar Harbor.
The Details:
What…
FREE Evening Admission to the Downtown Abbe Museum
When…
5:00-7:00 PM, Monday-Friday September 12-16 and 19-23
Where…
The Downtown Abbe Museum, 26 Mount Desert Street, Bar Harbor
Why…
The Abbe Museum is celebrating 10 Years Downtown with 10 nights of FREE admission!
The current exhibitions on display at the Abbe Museum are: Indians & Rusticators: Wabanakis and Summer Visitors on Mount Desert Island 1840s-1920s which highlights the role that Mount Desert Island played in the cultural and economic survival of Wabanakis, The 2011 Waponahki Student Art Show featuring original artworks created by Passamaquoddy and Penobscot students from early childhood education through high school, Objects of our Affection focusing on the effects of agents of deterioration on museum collections, Layers of Time highlighting archaeological research in Maine conducted by the Abbe Museum since 1928, and much more. The regular open hours of the Abbe Museum are 10-5 seven days a week, and regular admission is $6 for adults, $2 for children aged 6-16; Abbe Museum Members, Native Americans, and children under 6 are free. The original Abbe Museum at Sieur de Monts Spring is open 10-5 daily through October 8th and admission for Sieur de Monts only is $3 for adults and $1 for children. Note: This evening special does not include the Abbe at Sieur de Monts, which will operate on a regular schedule.
The Annual Meeting...Read the Presentation!
Ms. Newsom is a member of the Penobscot Nation and serves as their Tribal Historic Preservation Officer. In this capacity, she ensures tribal compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act, identifies and manages historic properties on tribal lands, consults with Federal and State agencies relative to historic site protection, participates in public education initiatives and serves as the tribal point of contact for all archaeological issues. Her former position include a research archaeology position with Archaeological Research Consultants, of Elssworth, Maine and Assistant Director of the Wabanaki Center at the University of Maine.
Ms. Newsom has served on a variety of boards and committees at both the local and national levels. At present, she serves on the repatriation review committee for the Smithsonian Institution and was recently appointed to the University of Maine Board of Trustees.
She holds a B.A. in Anthropology and an M.S. in Quaternary Studies from the University of Maine. Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Her research interests include the archaeology of the Penobscot River Valley and aboriginal ceramic analysis. As an indigenous archaeologist, Ms. Newsom is dedicated to working with and for indigenous communities.
As a military veteran and former leadership instructor with the Maine Army National Guard, Ms. Newsom taught courses in primary leadership, small and large group instructor training and non-commissioned officer training. Currently, she lives in Eddington with her husband, Les, and their four children. The Abbe Museum was honored to have Bonnie Newsom as the guest speaker for our Annual Meeting!
Annual Meeting: Wednesday June 15th
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 from 4:30 -7:00 pm, the Abbe Museum in downtown Bar Harbor will host its Annual Meeting. Special Guest, Bonnie Newsom, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer of the Penobscot Nation will speak about the Abbe's 10 year anniversary in downtown Bar Harbor and the impact the Abbe Museum has had on American museums, archaeology, and her personal story. Her talk is titled, Braided Visions: A Personal Reflection on the Abbe Museum’s Community Engagement.
Ms. Newsom is a member of the Penobscot Nation and serves as their Tribal Historic Preservation Officer. In this capacity, she ensures tribal compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act, identifies and manages historic properties on tribal lands, consults with Federal and State agencies relative to historic site protection, participates in public education initiatives and serves as the tribal point of contact for all archaeological issues. Her former positions include a research archaeology position with Archaeological Research Consultants, of Ellsworth, Maine and Assistant Director of the Wabanaki Center at the University of Maine.
Ms. Newsom has served on a variety of boards and committees at both the local and national levels. At present, she serves on the United South and Eastern Tribes Culture and Heritage Committee and is a board member of the Forest Society of Maine.
She holds a B.A. in Anthropology and an M.S. in Quaternary Studies from the University of Maine. Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Her research interests include the archaeology of the Penobscot River Valley and aboriginal ceramic analysis.
As a military veteran and a former leadership instructor with the Maine Army National Guard, Ms. Newsom taught courses in primary leadership, small and large group instructor training and non-commissioned officer training. Currently, she lives in Eddington with her husband, Les, and
their four children.
Major Exhibition Scheduled to Open this Summer at the Abbe Museum
The Abbe Museum will open a major new exhibition in its downtown location on Friday, July 8, 2011 entitled: Indians and Rusticators: Wabanakis and Summer Visitors on Mount Desert Island 1840s-1920s. The show highlights the role that Mount Desert Island played in the cultural and economic survival of theWabanakis (the collective name for Abenaki, Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Indians in Maine), offering a focused look at the seasonal interactions of Wabanakis and rusticators (annual summer visitors from the urban areas of Northeastern US). It will profile various personalities—especially the iconic Penobscot Indian showman Frank “Big Thunder” Loring, whose unforgettable presence on Mount Desert Island spanned 60 years of the Rusticator Era, will be profiled, as well as noted Passamaquoddy guide and artist Tomah Joseph. Serving as guest curators for the project are Bunny McBride, MA and Dr. Harald Prins, highly regarded scholars and authors of Wabanaki history. The stories told, and research presented represent years of collective work with the four tribes in Maine, the Abbe Museum, and Acadia National Park. McBride and Prins have worked with the Abbe on a number of occasions; memorably, McBride curated The Four Mollys exhibit ten years ago when the Abbe first opened in downtown Bar Harbor.
They had this to share about Indians & Rusticators:
About a century ago, the “Indian Encampment” in Bar Harbor was a thriving summer community of Passamaquoddy and Penobscot families, along with a few Maliseet and Mi’kmaq. Many were relatives, others were friends, and almost everyone knew about everyone else. Romantic relationships were often forged in the camp. Babies were born there and elders died. Although we no longer see their bark canoes lining the shore, smell their cooking fires filling the air, or hear them telling stories and singing songs in their ancestral tongues, this exhibit allows us to peek into their daily lives here on the seacoast. From the 1860s through the 1920s, these Wabanaki journeyed to Mount Desert Island to earn a living - to barter or sell their arts and crafts, to provide services as canoeists and guides, and to work at various hotels. But, they also relaxed and enjoyed themselves, much like the rusticators who came "from away."
As guest curators of Indians and Rusticators, we have not only used archives and museum collections to create this exhibit, but also built upon decades-long personal experiences and friendships with Wabanaki people from each of the four tribes. The groundwork for this particular project began eight years ago when the National Park Service invited us to do historical research on the Wabanaki and Acadia National Park. This resulted in the two-volume report, Asticou’s Island Domain, followed by our book Indians in Eden, which serves as a detailed catalogue for the exhibit.
Through images, objects and stories, Abbe visitors will enjoy learning about a layer of Mount Desert Island history that few know about. The exhibit is designed to give the visitor a “you are there” immersive experience. There is a replica of a Wabanaki sale tent with living space, a reproduction of the Bar Harbor wharf and a wide array of “hands-on” components. Visual images, many recently discovered, will help to create a time travel-like experience. Images to look for include historic photographs, a rare placard for an 1880 Indian performance in Bar Harbor, local period maps of Bar Harbor and Southwest Harbor showing the locations of Indian encampments, plus many drawings and etchings. A great variety of cultural artifacts sold by Wabanakis to tourists and rusticators will also be featured, including basketry, bark work, wood carvings, feather work, beadwork, and quillwork. These objects help to illustrate the historical depth of the role Wabanaki art played in the cultural and economic survival of the Wabanaki people, and in making Bar Harbor a unique destination for rusticators.
From the early planning stages to opening day Indians & Rusticators has been a multi-year project and the end result demonstrates the Abbe’s broader program and community goals in action – engaging and informing audiences about the 12,000 year history of Maine’s Native peoples and promoting a diverse dialogue among our visitors, thus revealing the full fabric of our interwoven story. Indians & Rusticators amplifies the historic and first person voices of Wabanaki peoples and will serve as an interesting and interactive educational experience for audiences of all ages. “We want this exhibit to fill in some of the gaps and correct some of the misconceptions of U.S. history in the region and replace stereotypes with an enhanced understanding of Maine’s first peoples,” said Abbe Museum CEO, Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko.
The Abbe Museum has engaged as exhibition advisors James Eric Francis, Sr., Tribal Historian for the Penobscot Nation; Donald Soctomah, Tribal Historian for the Passamaquoddy Tribe; and Donna Loring, Penobscot Nation Tribal Council member and former State Legislator. Their influence and guidance have ensured the relevancy of this project. Local organizations contributing to this project include the Bar Harbor Historical Society, the Mt. Desert Island Historical Society, and the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.
The public is invited to an opening reception on
Friday, July 8, 2011 from 4:00 to 6:00pm.
During the reception, admission to the Abbe Museum is free.
Generations of Wabanakis Share Their Artistry in Historic Bar Harbor
For thousands of years, the Native people of Maine have lived on and traveled to the shores of Mount Desert Island. Coming in birch bark canoes by river and sea to what is now Frenchman Bay; they paddled across the channel to land on the Island. After the arrival of Europeans, Native people continued to summer on Mount Desert Island, selling their wares to visitors. It is with this spirit that their descendants continue to travel to Mount Desert Island in modern times to participate in the annual Native American Festival and Basketmakers Market.
It’s fascinating to realize that among the visitors to the Festival today are the great-grandchildren of the people who bought baskets from my great-grandmother and her contemporaries. Her baskets and mine are in some of the same family homes and collections here on MDI. - Theresa Secord, Penobscot
The focus of the Festival is a market featuring basket makers, representing all four tribes in Maine, the Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot, collectively known as the Wabanaki. Among this group are nationally renowned contemporary and traditional basket makers who travel to Bar Harbor to sell their work – drawing collectors from across the country.
The Festival combines the art and craft market with music, dancing, and demonstrations. Artists selling high quality baskets made from ash and sweetgrass, birch bark, and other traditional materials, as well as jewelry, musical instruments, and other crafts, gather to share their traditions, history, and culture with visitors. Demonstrations include dancing, drumming, flute playing, and basketmaking, as well as ash pounding.
Parking and public transportation are available, and the grounds of the College of the Atlantic are handicap accessible. Visitors are encouraged to use the Island Explorer bus system which stops at COA. In addition to the festival activities, this year a silent auction will feature works from Wabanaki artists. Proceeds support the non-profit teaching and apprenticeship programs of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance.
The Festival began in 1989 at the Abbe Museum, and as it has grown, it has taken place in several locations around town. In 1994, the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance and College of the Atlantic joined the Abbe Museum as partners, allowing the Festival to grow to include more basketmakers, and to take place on the beautiful campus of College of the Atlantic. The Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance has since taken a lead role in organizing the Festival, and plays a key role in bringing dozens of new, “next generation” basketmakers and their families to the event.
The Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance is a nonprofit Native American arts service organization focused on preserving and extending the art of basketmaking within Maine’s Native American community. MIBA seeks to preserve the ancient tradition of ash and sweetgrass basketmaking among the Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes. www.maineindianbaskets.org
The Native American Festival & Basketmakers Market will take place on
Saturday, July 9th from 10 am - 4 pm.
Image 1. Photo by Dee Lustusky.
You are cordially invited...
The Abbe Museum invites you to our annual Gathering Gala at the Bar Harbor Club on Wednesday, July 20, 2011.
- Cocktails & Silent Auction at 5:30
- Dinner, Live Auction & Dance at 7:00
All proceeds benefit the Abbe Museum’s mission to inspire new learning about the Wabanaki Nations with every visit. We are looking forward to an elegant evening filled with beautiful art, delicious food, great friends and music. We hope you’ll join us for the celebration! To preview the artwork and learn more about the Gathering Gala and our sponsors, please visit here. More images of the artwork are being added daily so please check back often! And because seeing the real thing is always better, we also have artwork on display at Machias Savings Bank (Cottage Street, Bar Harbor) and in the Abbe Museum’s Orientation Gallery. Stop in to preview these beautiful works of art…you’ll be glad you did!
Program Collaboration with Acadia National Park
You may remember an earlier article when Raney Bench, Curator of Education, announced our new collaborative programs with Acadia National Park. (If you don’t, you can find it here.) We are excited to share that those demonstrations start this week! The summer cultural demonstration series in the Park launches on Wednesday, June 15th at Jordan Pond House with birch bark artist Butch Phillips, Penobscot. Butch will bring a variety of traditional and modern tools used to construct a birch bark canoe, his canoe, and an exhibit detailing the process. Acadia National Park, in cooperation with the Abbe Museum, will present demonstrations each Wednesday this summer to engage visitors with a host of Wabanaki artists, musicians, and experts. These demonstrations are free and open to the public, and in the case of inclement weather, will be held in the Abbe Museum’s Orientation Gallery. We hope to see you there!
Image 2. David Moses Bridges.
Image 3. The Burnurwurbskek Singers.
Image 4. Wayne Newell & Blanche Sockabasin.
Image 5. Jeremy Frey demonstrating ash pounding.
Celebrating 10 Years Downtown continues as we Celebrate New & Emerging Artists!
Next week is the launch of our Cultural Connections: New & Emerging Artists demonstration series! On Friday, June 24th from 2:00-4:00 Passamaquoddy fashion designer Leon Sockbeson will demonstrate the art of beading. Leon’s work combines traditional elements with contemporary fashion.
Also participating in the New & Emerging Artists demonstration series are George Neptune, Sierra Henries, and Erik Sappier. On Friday, July 29th, George Neptune, Passamaquoddy, will demonstrate ash and sweetgrass basket making, while talking about his art, culture, and training. Nipmuck artist Sierra Henries will be demonstrating the art of decorating birch bark with traditional and contemporary designs on Thursday, August 4th. And on Friday, September 16th, Penobscot carver Erik Sappier will demonstrate traditional chip carving techniques used to decorate root clubs and walking sticks.
To celebrate these and other artists, the Abbe Shop is offering 15% off select artists throughout the month of June! Currently, you can save 15% on…
- Unique Baskets by Sarah Sockbeson
- Carved Walking Sticks by Erik Sappier
- Unique Baskets by Max Romero
- Unique Baskets & Designer Tees by Eric Otter Bacon
- Unique Baskets & Beaded Jewelry by Chris & Jaclyn Sockbeson
- Birchbark Art, Designer Tees, and more by Sierra Henries
And don’t forget to visit the 2011 Waponahki Student Art Show to celebrate all those fabulous young artists! If you’d like to revisit our monthly themes for 2011, you can find them here.
Next month we’ll be focusing on Abbe Traditions, and giving away a FREE copy of our Abbe Museum Publications CD with every purchase of $75 or more!
Image 1. Sierra Henries.
Image 2. Sample of Leon Sockbeson's bead work.
Image 3. George Neptune at the 2010 Native American Festival & Basketmaker's Market.
Image 4. Erik Sappier.
Image 5. Rainy Days at the Abbe! Both the original Abbe Museum at Sieur de Monts Spring, a popular summer tradition, and the Downtown Abbe are open 10-5, every day. If the weather is foul, call to learn what's planned for Rainy Days at the Abbe! Rainy Days at the Abbe is a volunteer-based program; Contact us to learn more.
The Anne Molloy Howells Basket Collection
Julia Clark, Curator of Collections
In 1998, children’s book author Anne Molloy Howells donated her collection of 450 Native American baskets and related material to the Abbe Museum.
The donation almost doubled the Abbe's collection of baskets, making it the largest and best documented holding of Maine Indian basketry in the Northeast. Representing a broad range of styles and uses, Howells acquired a collection from the early 1960s to the early 1990s. It represents nearly 200 years of Native American basketry.
The museum was able to accept such a large collection because plans were underway for the Downtown Abbe, with greatly expanded collections care, storage and exhibition space. Without the new building, the museum would not have been able to accept this extraordinary collection. In 2003, the exhibit “The Basket Room” displayed all but 26 of the 450 baskets, providing visitors with extraordinary insight into the diversity of Wabanaki and other Native American basketry.
The Abbe is noted for its especially strong representation of baskets by the four Maine tribes: the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet and Micmac. The Howells collection includes Canadian Maliseet and Abenaki works that were not previously well represented in the Abbe's collections.
Howells, a Portsmouth, N.H resident, spent much of each year in Bucks Harbor, Maine from the 1940s to the early 1990s. Her interest in Native American baskets was stimulated by a neighbor's basket, which had been given to his family by Native Americans who gathered sweetgrass for their baskets on family property. At first she purchased baskets for household use, but by about 1960 she had become a serious collector.
The Howells Collection joined two other distinguished basket collections in the Abbe, those donated by Mary Cabot Wheelwright in 1931 and by Watie Akins, a member of the Penobscot Nation, in 1995. Since 1998, collections from Diana Baker, Jeanne Scheno, and the Peter Smith Terry Collection at Unity College have been added to the Abbe’s collection, along with outstanding work by contemporary Wabanaki artists.
The Howells collection is special in part because it is well documented. Mrs. Howells kept very good records, including actual purchase receipts. Also, many of the objects were discussed in Abenaki Baskets, by Gaby Pelletier, one of the best research reports on Northeastern baskets.
Born in Boston in 1907, Howells wrote 24 books for young people, all but three of them fiction, and many set in Downeast Maine. Among her books that feature Native Americans and their culture are Five Kidnapped Indians, Wampum and The Mystery of the Pilgrim Trading Post.
Images 1-8: Examples from the Anne Molloy Howells Basket Collection.
Teaching with Artifacts Allows for a Uniquely Abbe Experience!
Raney Bench, Curator of Education
It’s summer, you’re hot, dirty, and sweat drips from your brow into a pit filled with dirt and shell. You look up to see the shining waters of Frenchman Bay and feel the refreshing
As an educator, it’s my job to try and find creative ways to bring that same sense of wonder and excitement to children when they visit the Abbe Museum, or when we go to their classrooms. Many museums offer an exhibit tour or separate activity for school groups that visit the museum, but the Abbe Museum combines these two formats, to create school programs that allow children to interact with real and reproduction artifacts.
The Abbe offers s
Students thrill at the opportunity to touch real artifacts, and our work leaves a lasting impression with children and teachers. Here are just a few comments from students we worked with last week:
- “It was interesting to me, especially the flute made out of bird bone, that was one of the coolest days ever!”
- “I liked the deer bone and I liked the part when we got to touch everything on the animal fur.”
- “Thank you for sharing your artifacts. My favorite thing you showed us was the beaver tooth and the flute made out of bird bone. And the beads made out of snail shells. I liked that part because now I know they had fancy clothing."
Image 1: Arrowhead from the Ewing-Bragdon Site, 2010 Field School in Archaeology
Image 2: Shell Beads in the Abbe Museum education collection.