Wabanaki Modern: The Artistic Legacy of the 1960s “Micmac Indian Craftsmen”

The “Micmac Indian Craftsmen” were the first modern Indigenous artists in Atlantic Canada and developed an international following almost overnight. Their work was inspired by traditional Wabanaki stories, and their visual language was eclectic, often minimalist, and unabashedly contemporary. With almost no reflection in the current canon of New Brunswick visual art or Indigenous studies, it is staggering to see how intense and promising the studio’s accolades and patronage once were -- though several generations later, these have become all but lost to the distractions of time.

Curated by Emma Hassencahl-Perley, Tobique First Nation, and John Leroux and organized by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery (Fredericton, New Brunswick). Exhibition made possible thanks to support from TD Bank Group through the TD Ready Commitment, Canada Council for the Arts, and the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums.

 The exhibit opened in May 2023 and will run through October 2024.

Wabanaki Guides (2013)

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Wabanaki Guides focused on the legacy of Wabanaki people serving as guides for European and American explorers, cartographers, tourists and artists from the 1600s to the present. Visitors were invited along for a simulated canoe ride down a Maine river. The journey shined a spotlight on ways in which Wabanaki knowledge of land and waterways influenced Maine’s early visitors and illustrated how this legacy is linked to the modern-day tribes, tourism, and environmental sustainability in Maine.

Visitors “climbed into a canoe with their guide” and began their journey. Along the way, they stopped at “portages” on the river bank. At each portage, visitors learned about the various things a guide needs to consider when planning a trip and what one might expect to encounter along the way. The exhibit focused on the following themes: mapping, tracking, tourism, and economics. Stories and historic accounts from various view points were weaved throughout, incorporating the voices of Wabanaki guides both past and present as well as explorers, artists, and cartographers such as Henry David Thoreau and Joseph Treat.

Learn more: Wabanaki Guides Exhibit Script

Waponahki Student Art (2001 - ongoing)

A collaboration of Maine Indian Education, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Border Towns, and the Abbe Museum.

The annual Waponahki Student Art Show brings together a wonderful variety of art created by Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet, and Micmac students from early childhood education through high school. The styles, media, and images vary throughout the exhibition, but place, culture, and identity have a strong presence in these original works.

Learn More:
2023 Student Art Image Gallery
2022 Student Art Image Gallery
2021 Student Art Image Gallery
2020 Student Art Image Gallery

wolankeyutomon: Take Care of Everything (2019-2020)

This exhibit, a collaboration between Maritime Indigenous Artists, Inc. (MIA) and the Abbe Museum, explored the protection of waters sacred to the Wabanaki and the conservation of sea life living in those waters. It featured original artwork created by indigenous artists living in the New England region of the United States and the Canadian Maritimes (from Connecticut to Labrador).

The featured artists were Ginette Kakakos Aubin, Lorne Julien, Starr Kelly, Nancy Oakley, Nicholas Paul, Allan Saulis, Norma Saulis, Frances Soctomah, and Nelson White.

Youth Capture the Colorful Cosmos: Star Stories of the Dawnland (2015 - 2024)

In affiliation with the Smithsonian Institution.

This exhibit, a partnership with the Indian Township School, includes students from other Wabanaki communities and promotes increased interest, awareness, and knowledge of astronomy content and Wabanaki oral histories. Students focused mainly on two Passamaquoddy stories: Of the Surprising and Singular Adventures of Two Water Fairies Who Were Also Weasels, and How They Each Became the Bride of a Star, and Possesomuwinuwok: The Star People.

By partnering with schools in the Wabanaki communities, students have the opportunity to research, learn about, and photograph the cosmos using telescopes owned and maintained by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.