Don't Miss Out on Our Winter Break Programs

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February 17th from 10 am - 3 pm
Coming Home Children's Workshop with Museum Educator George Neptune, Passamaquoddy


In this workshop, learn to make your own miniature beaded bag out of cloth, glass beads, and silk ribbon. This workshop will require the use of sharp needles, so is recommended for older children and teens. Registration required, space limited. To register, contact Museum Educator George Neptune, (207) 288-3519 or george@abbemuseum.org.

February 18th from 10 am - 12 pm
Winter in the Dawnland Storytelling and Craft Activity with Museum Educator George Neptune, Passamaquoddy


For the third program in the Winter in the Dawnland series, hear stories about the first treaties to be made in the Dawnland. Registration required, space limited. Recommended for families. To register, contact George at (207) 288-3519 or george@abbemuseum.org.

February 19th from 12 - 1 pm
Coming Home Brown Bag Lunch Series with Jennifer Neptune, Penobscot


In our first Brown Bag Lunch of the 2015 series, join us as Penobscot beadworker Jennifer Neptune discusses and demonstrates her work replicating an historic Penobscot Chief's collar. Free and open to the public.

Learn more about our February Programs.

New Faces at the Abbe

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Jill Sawyer, our new Administrative Associate, joins us after moving back to Maine from Denver, Colorado where she was pursuing her Master's degree in Anthropology (with a concentration in Museum Studies) from the University of Denver. She has six years of experience in the museum sector executing various roles, which include: guest services, exhibit implementation, and program evaluation. Welcome, Jill!  

Abbe Museum and Machias Savings Bank Partner to Offer Free Admission

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The Abbe Museum is currently offering free admission during the 2015 winter months, thanks to the generosity of Machias Savings Bank. Admission will be free February 5, 2015 through April, and then again in November and December.
“This is a perfect example of why we love our community partners,” said Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, Abbe Museum’s president and CEO. “Machias Savings Bank has been supporting the Abbe Museum since 1991, and we truly value this partnership, which has been critical to ensuring that we can fulfill our mission as an important cultural and educational resource for Hancock County and the State of Maine.”
Thanks to Machias Savings Bank’s support, for the first time in the Abbe’s 12 year history in downtown Bar Harbor, free admission was offered during the 2014 winter months. The impact of this program was palpable: the Museum experienced a marked increase in visitors from within the state of Maine over the course of 2014. In February 2011, the Abbe had 86 visitors from throughout Maine, while in February 2014, the Abbe had over 170 visitors from around Maine, a 97% increase.
“We at Machias Savings Bank are once again honored to help the Abbe Museum provide admission free access to all that the Museum has to offer,” said Branch Manager, Matt Horton. "I got a sneak peek at the Museum’s new exhibit, Coming Home, and even in its installation phase, it’s really impressive. I encourage everyone to take the time and visit the Abbe.”
The free admission program helps raise the Abbe’s statewide visibility as the only museum dedicated solely to sharing the story of the Wabanaki Nations. As Maine’s first and only Smithsonian Affiliate, the Abbe believes that free admission in the winter aligns nicely with the Smithsonian’s goal of being easily accessible to the public.

The Abbe is currently closed until February 5, 2015. Winter hours are Thursday through Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm.

Did You Know?

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We often get asked, "What's the best way to help?" Our answer is simple: Any way you can. Volunteering is a wonderful opportunity to take an active role in helping the Abbe inspire new learning about the Wabanaki Nations. Don't worry if you don't have large amounts of time to commit--we have plenty of opportunities that require just a few hours here and there. We love our volunteers!

Coming Home

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Our 2015 feature exhibit is an invitation to Wabanaki people to re-connect with familiar and unfamiliar material culture. It is an invitation to our museum visitor to consider what objects make memory for all of us. It is an invitation to consider what it means to return memories and meaning to people, to home lands. More details will be revealed soon!

Abbe Museum Exhibit Focuses on Women as Healers

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First-time curator and Museum Educator, George Neptune, tells a story of strength and love

The Abbe Museum, the first and only Smithsonian Affiliate in the state of Maine, is pleased to announce the opening of the Kikehtahsuwiw: It Heals exhibit, the first exhibit curated by Abbe Museum Educator George Neptune, Passamaquoddy. A special blessing for Kikehtahsuwiw will be given on Thursday, February 5, 2015 at 5 pm as part of the grand opening for the Abbe’s 2015 feature exhibit, Coming Home.

Kikehtahsuwiw: It Heals is a story about several women in the Passamaquoddy Tribe, residing at both Motahkomikuk (Indian Township) and Sipayik (Pleasant Point). Each of these women shares a common goal: healing their communities.


As a matriarchal society, women are more than just the heads of the family. As the providers and protectors of life itself, women are sacred. Capable of enduring so much pain on behalf of their children in infinite ways, they represent the healing strength of love itself. As the carriers of life, they are also carriers of culture and responsible for carrying on healing traditions.
“By sharing this story, I hope to show the strength of our people,” said Neptune. “These women are just a few of many who work every day to heal within our communities. It is my hope that when you read their stories, you also are, in some way, healed.”
Storytelling is a crucial practice in countless Native American cultures. Many tribes did not use a written language system, so storytellers were the keepers of history, knowledge, and tradition. Stories were meant to teach, whether about creation, survival, respect, or even magic.


The portraits in the Kikehtahsuwiw: It Heals exhibit were photographed by Thom Willey.

The Abbe is currently closed until February 5, 2015. Winter hours are Thursday through Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm. Admission is free through April thanks to the generosity of Machias Savings Bank.

Abbe Museum’s 2015 Feature Exhibit Brings Wabanaki Artifacts Home

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Coming Home consists of collections from museums in the northeastern United States



The Abbe Museum, the first and only Smithsonian Affiliate in the state of Maine, will open its 2015 feature exhibit, Coming Home, on February 5, 2015. This exciting and beautiful exhibit reveals a greater depth of information about historical Wabanaki objects through the traditional knowledge of working with Native community curators.
“This exhibit is not only a chance to learn through traditional and cultural knowledge, but to see amazing objects that are coming back to Maine after decades or centuries away,” said Julia Clark, director of collections & interpretation. “Wabanaki community curators chose an intriguing and diverse selection of objects, many very different from those in the Abbe's collection. This exhibit is a unique opportunity for our visitors to learn about Wabanaki culture directly from Wabanaki people and objects, rather than filtered through the lens of the museum curator.” 
From baskets to beadwork, woodcarvings to birchbark canoes, tools or artwork, many pieces of Wabanaki material culture have ended up in museums far away from the Wabanaki homeland, where it is difficult for community members to see these pieces of their history and culture. In recent years, the Abbe has spoken with several Wabanaki people about Micmac, Maliseet, Penobscot, and Passamaquoddy collections residing in museums outside of Maine, and whether it would it be possible to bring pieces “home” for a while so that community members could study them more closely.

Wabanaki community curators worked with Abbe curatorial staff to select and borrow objects from museums in the northeastern United States between Philadelphia and Maine. Throughout the exhibit, community curators share thoughts, ideas, and perspectives about the objects they selected, which broadens the interpretation and enriches understanding.
“Familiar objects can often trigger memories and spur curiosity,” said Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, Abbe Museum’s president and CEO. “It’s the Abbe’s hope that this exhibit is a beginning, and that there will be future exhibits where pieces journey back from farther afield - across the United States and Canada, into Europe, and perhaps beyond.”
An opening reception, which is free and open to the public, will be held on February 5, 2015 from 5 – 7 pm.

Coming Home will be in the main gallery through the end of the year. Winter hours are Thursday through Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm. Admission is free through April thanks to the generosity of Machias Savings Bank.

Winter in the Dawnland

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On December 14 from 10:00 am-12:00 pm, Abbe Museum Educator George Neptune will lead the final program of the Winter in the Dawnland series. Neptune will share Wabanaki stories about the stars, exploring their significance within Dawnland cultures, and will then lead participants in the creation of their own paper stars.

Free and open to the public (great for families) but note that space is limited

Annual Giving

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This past October, we kicked off a new planning process that will guide us through the years to come. We're thinking about place - how can Bar Harbor become a destination for Northeastern Native art? We're thinking about our relationships with tribal communities - how can the Abbe take a decolonized approach to our work so that Wabanaki people are included in all of our programmatic and operational activities? And, we're thinking about our partners - how can we strengthen the Abbe and the MDI community through collaborations and strategic alliances?

With a gift today you will help us turn the answers to these questions into the museum's future. Our online giving goal for 2014 of $8,600 dollars honors the Abbe's 86th year as a trusted cornerstone of Maine's cultural heritage.

Native American Film Series

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The Abbe's annual Native American Film Series, made possible with support from Reel Pizza, will host its final film on Thursday, December 4 from 7:00-9:00 pm at the Abbe's downtown location. Robert Redford and Michael Apted's film Incident at Oglala follows the story of the shooting of two FBI agents at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and the subsequent trial and eventual conviction of Indian activist Leonard Peltier. The film will be followed by a discussion.


New Faces at the Abbe

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We are thrilled to welcome Heather Anderson to our team! Heather is our new Director of Advancement, and her responsibilities include providing leadership and management of the direction, planning, and execution of fundraising, marketing, and membership at the museum. She is a seasoned marketing and communications professional and brings experience in media and public relations, brand awareness, social media, content marketing, customer engagement, and community building strategies. Heather has held leadership roles with several international higher education publishing houses, having worked with top scholarly societies, authors, editors, and products. Born and raised in Maine, she earned a B.A. in English from the University of Maine in Orono, and is an accomplished photographer. She is often found wandering the woods with her husband, Alf Anderson, and their dog, Roscoe.

Twisted Path III: Questions of Balance

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On November 14th and 15th, Native artists will convene at the Abbe Museum in downtown Bar Harbor for a Creative Summit with the goal of developing and sustaining a community of contemporary Wabanaki artists. The summit, inspired by and designed to complement the Abbe’s current main exhibit,

Twisted Path III: Questions of Balance

, will include discussions, an open artists’ studio and a mural workshop.

Twisted Path III

artists participating in the summit include Patricia Michaels, Taos Pueblo, from Season 11 of Project Runway, and Wabanaki artists Rick Hunt, Abenaki; Gina Brooks, Maliseet; Gabriel Frey, Passamaquoddy; Shane Perley-Dutcher, Maliseet, and Vera Longtoe Sheehan, Abenaki.

Friday’s events will be discussion-based and open only to Native artists. Conversations will be geared towards Native arts in Maine, and how to create support systems for emerging Wabanaki contemporary artists. In addition to the

Twisted Path III

artists, other Wabanaki artists and Maine Indian Basketmaker’s Alliance members have been invited to participate in the discussions, with the hopes of identifying the first steps towards creating a Contemporary Native Arts Guild. By bringing together some of today’s leaders in the contemporary Native art world, the Abbe Museum hopes to generate discussions about creative placemaking, cultural tourism, and the future of contemporary Native art in Maine.

On Saturday, the Creative Summit will open to the public with free museum admission. The day will be filled with opportunities to see the artists at work. From 10:00am – 12:00pm the public is invited to observe an open artists’ studio; the artists will work together, trading materials and techniques, to create collaborative pieces. From 1:00 – 4:00pm the artists will collaborate in a mural workshop and the public is again invited to observe.

Twisted Path III

Co-Curator, Rick Hunt, Abenaki, will lead the artists in the creation of a mural that will become part of the Abbe’s permanent collection. Anyone is invited to watch the Twisted Path III artists at work during Saturday’s events.

The Creative Summit is made possible through the support of Lead Corporate Sponsor, Bar Harbor Bank and Trust with additional lead support from the Maine Arts Commission. The Abbe Museum also thanks the

Twisted Path III

exhibit sponsors: the Sharpe Family Foundation/Douglas and Ann Sharpe, Anonymous Foundation, Fisher Charitable Foundation, Hattie A. & Fred C. Lynam Trust, The First, Maine Arts Commission, MPBN, and the Bangor Daily News.

POWs in the Passamaquoddy Homeland:

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Indigenous Archaeology at a WWII Prisoner of War Camp
Presented by Bonnie Newsom, Nutalket Consulting

This presentation will highlight investigations of a former WWII German prisoner of war camp located within Passamaquoddy tribal territory at Indian Township, Maine. The site represents an episode of Maine history that has received minimal attention and reflects a unique and historic use of tribal lands in Maine. Nutalket Consulting worked closely with the Passamaquoddy Tribal Historic Preservation Office to apply an indigenous archaeologies framework to the investigation, resulting in a project designed to build tribal capacity through archaeological skills development and training within the Passamaquoddy community.

Bonnie Newsom is a member of the Penobscot Nation and President of Nutalket Consulting—a small business that blends archaeology and heritage preservation consulting with Native American art and jewelry design. Previously, she served for ten years as Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Penobscot Nation. Newsom is Chair of the Repatriation Review Committee for the Smithsonian Institution and is the first Wabanaki woman to serve as a Trustee for the University of Maine System. 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, Amherst.

Monday, October 20, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM at the Jordan Pond House

Reservations Required

$20 for Abbe Museum Members

$30 for Non-Museum Members

Either Call or Email for more information
207.288.3519 | info@abbemuseum.org