Panelists | Performers | Market Artists
Find market artists and participants another way:
Jennifer Pictou - Storyteller
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Mi’kmaq Nation
MEDIUM: Diverse Arts
PERFORMANCE: Featured Performer - Sunday 1-1:45 p.m. on the Main Stage
ARTIST STATEMENT
Jennifer began her storytelling journey when she was eight years old at an indigenous summer camp for Wabanaki children in Northern Maine. There she was exposed to traditional stories in skit format, which ignited a deep desire to know more. As she paid more attention to them, she began to realize differences between stories told at home, those told in professional storytelling spaces, and those told casually among tribal members in everyday settings. These observations were key to providing her with a lifelong love of oral history and an understanding of nuances, structure, and cultural context.
As an adult, Jennifer has enjoyed many opportunities to share her tribe’s traditional stories with broad audiences, from school groups to stage work to international tour groups. Jennifer states, “There is a value in storytelling that goes beyond merely listening to a good tale, as I have used stories as a form of currency, been gifted with stories in return, and debated the veracity of story translations written down hundreds of years ago with other storytellers. I am not a folklorist in the academic sense but a culture keeper in a broader context, sharing oral traditions that have been passed through thousands of generations.”
In addition to live storytelling, Jennifer is an award-winning glass artist and co-author of Haunted Bar Harbor. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Maine at Presque Isle, later getting a B.S. in Anthropology, and her Master’s in American and New England Studies from the University of Southern Maine.
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Geo Soctomah Neptune
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Passamaquoddy Tribe
MEDIUM: Basketry - Ash, Clothing, Diverse-Arts
MARKET PERFORMER: Sunday, July 12, 10-10:30 a.m. on the Market Stage
BIOGRAPHY
Geo Neptune is a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe from Indian Township, Maine, and is a Master Basketmaker, a Drag Queen, an Activist and an Educator. As a person who identifies as a two-spirit, an indigenous cultural gender role that is a sacred blend of both male and female, Geo uses they/them gender-neutral pronouns.
At four years old, Geo had already been asking their grandmother Molly Neptune Parker to teach them how to weave baskets; after being told to wait until they were older, Geo found another elder that would teach them, and presented their grandmother with their first completed basket. Later that year, after turning five years old, Geo wove their first basket with their grandmother, beginning a lifelong apprenticeship.
After graduating from eighth grade at the Indian Township School, Geo attended Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine, where they were able to explore more artistic outlets before becoming a member of the Dartmouth College Class of 2010. Proficient in Spanish and a performing arts major, Geo studied abroad in both Barcelona and London during their time at Dartmouth.
When Geo graduated from Dartmouth College and returned to the Indian Township reservation, they began to focus heavily on their weaving, and developing their own individual artistic style. Experimenting with their family's signature woven flowers mixed with natural elements of twigs and branches, Geo began forming what would eventually be known as their signature sculptural style of whimsical, elegant, traditionally-informed basketmaking. During their time at home, Geo was also the Cultural Activities Coordinator and Drama Instructor for the Indian Township After School and Summer Programs, and eventually went on to serve as the Unit Director for the Passamaquoddy Boys and Girls Club. In 2012, Geo attended the Santa Fe Indian Market for the first time, accepted the position of Museum Educator at the Abbe Museum, and watched their grandmother receive the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship before moving to Bar Harbor.
Living in Bar Harbor, Geo maintained a life as a basketmaker, actor, drag queen, and activist in addition to serving as the Museum Educator. Participating in Idle No More protests here in Maine, Geo was invited as the first Indigenous youth delegate to the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Capetown, South Africa in 2014. After attending the Summit again in 2015, returning to Barcelona, Geo was then invited to attend a PeaceJam conference in Winchester, England, where they met Rigoberta Menchu Tum, the first and only Indigenous woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2016, Geo was the first drag queen on the cover of Native Peoples Magazine, with their story featured in the magazine's first official LGBTQ Pride issue. In late 2016, Geo decided to pursue their art and activism full time, and they now live back in their community at Indian Township. At home, they are able to spend more time with their apprentice and youngest sister Emma--who, at thirteen years old, has won numerous more awards for her basketry than Geo has--and with their grandmother, keeping the family and cultural tradition of basketry alive. Geo hopes to be able to work to embrace the sacred role of the two-spirit, truly becoming a keeper of tradition and a teacher and role model for Passamaquoddy and other Wabanaki youth. Most importantly, Geo hopes to inspire other two-spirits from across turtle island to accept their truth and embrace their sacred responsibility, and travels across the state and country educating learners of all ages about Wabanaki history and culture, the art of basketmaking, and what it means to them to be a Two-Spirit.
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Kontiwennenha:Wi
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Mohawk
FEATURING: Bear Fox, Iawentas Nanticoke, Tekonwakwenni Nanticoke, and Elizabeth Nanticoke
PERFORMANCE: Market Performer - Saturday 12-1 p.m. on the Market Stage
ARTIST STATEMENT:
Sisters, aunties, daughters, mothers, and grandmothers from the Wolf Clan family of the Kanienkehaka Nation. Women holding a great responsibility of sharing traditional teachings and the protection and preservation of the language and the stories of past generations through their songs.
Kontiwennenha:wi; (pronounced: goon dee wa na ha wee), are from Ahkwesahsne, which is located where present-day Ontario, Quebec, and New York State intersect, settling in their territory on the St. Lawrence River. They are Kanienkehaka, People of the Flint, but are more commonly known as Mohawk.
Kontiwennenha:wi formed as a singing group in 1997, at a time when their children were learning the songs and dances of the Kanienkehaka at the Ahkwesahsne Freedom School. The school played an important part in holding on to the language and traditions that would have otherwise been lost if the children continued to learn in government-run public schools. Two of the women in the group, Iawentas and Tekonwakwenni, were students at the Ahkwesahsne Freedom School and are now teachers of the language. The women share social songs of the Six Nations and have created some verses of the Women’s Dance.
A water drum and horn rattles are used by the women when they perform.
Bear Fox is a singer/songwriter of folk songs that are shared with the accompaniment of the women’s voices. Many of the songs incorporate the Mohawk language and some of Bear’s songs were written and performed in English. The women have been recipients of the Native American Music Awards, as a group and Bear Fox, as a solo artist, too. The women are proud to share their songs and their lives as traditional women at this moment in time.
Burnurwubskek Singers
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Penobscot
PERFORMANCE: Market Performer - Saturday 11-11:45 a.m. on the Market Stage
Jennifer Pictou
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Mi’kmaq Nation
MEDIUM: Diverse Arts
PERFORMANCE: Featured Performer - Sunday 1-1:45 p.m. on the Main Stage
BIOGRAPHY
Jennifer Pictou (Mi’kmaq) is a member of the Mi’kmaq Nation (formerly the Aroostook Band of Micmac). She is a professional storyteller, artist, and historian as well as owner of a nationally renowned tour company, Bar Harbor Ghost Tours. She holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts, a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, and A Masters Degree in American and New England Studies. Jennifer describes her art style as a mix of traditional Mi’kmaq forms with an Art Deco flair. Her original bead designs involve intricate traditional double curves and floral patterns beaded into exquisite limited edition handbags and wall art. Currently Jennifer is also studying and is a founding member of a group reviving traditional Mi’kmaq porcupine quill embroidery.
ARTIST STATEMENT
As an artist deeply connected to my Mi’kmaq heritage, I draw inspiration from the rich cultural tapestry of my ancestors’ resistance and survival, infusing my work with elements of tradition and history. Through the ancient techniques of glass beads, lampwork, and stained glass, I reclaim indigenous space and weave a contemporary narrative that honors the resilience and beauty of Mi’kmaq people in my homeland.
In the fiery torch, I mold molten glass into statements of today’s enduring issues and passions. Each bead and sculpture tell a story of strength and perseverance, reflecting the enduring legacy of my ancestors.
Within the delicacy of stained glass, I draw from the vibrant hues of ancestral objects and the natural world, using the Colonizer’s own medium of religious oppression to tell our story of survival and world views.
In my beadwork I delve into the cultural resistance of my ancestors to create one-of-a-kind statement pieces of intricate form and function. These represent a claiming of modernity and space within fashion.
Through all of my work I explore the themes of identity and belonging, using the interplay of light and color to reclaim and redefine Mi’kmaq narratives in a contemporary context. Each piece is a rebuttal of the prevalent ideas that we are no longer here, reminding viewers of the importance of preserving and honoring indigenous heritage in an ever-changing world.
