Panelists | Performers | Market Artists
Find market artists and participants another way:
Benjamin Labobe
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Mi'kmaq Nation
MEDIUM: Ash Basketry
ARTIST STATEMENT
I grew up in Houlton in the basket-making family of the Hannings and Labobe's. As a small child, the years went by, and I found myself interested in my grandmother's baskets. She had gifted our family with a whole set of fancy baskets in the 70's. I began the 25-year journey of basket making that I am still on. I just wanted to be as good at this as she was. Now, at the beginning of 2027, I'm starting the videotaping of the baskets for a web show coming in the years to follow. My plan is to not only film the baskets but also the events.
Lee DeCora Francis
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Penobscot Indian Nation
MEDIUM: Clothing
ARTIST STATEMENT
Lee DeCora Francis (Penobscot and Ho-Chunk) is an educator, artist, author, and community leader whose work is grounded in Indigenous education, cultural revitalization, and service to her people. Over the past two decades, she has served as a teacher, school leader, Tribal Councilor, and advocate for Native communities while working to strengthen relationships between culture, identity, and learning. Through Sokolaponsis Designs, Lee brings those same values into her artistic practice. Drawing inspiration from ribbonwork traditions, Wabanaki artistry, and the lands and waters of her homelands, she creates contemporary Indigenous pieces that blend traditional influences with modern design. Her work explores themes of resilience, beauty, belonging, and connection across generations. Guided by the teachings of her ancestors, Lee creates pieces that honor those who came before, celebrate those with us today, and carry stories forward for future generations.
Renae Al-Fdeilat
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Penobscot Indian Nation
MEDIUM: Jewelry, Beadwork
ARTIST STATEMENT
Renae Al-Fdeilat is a Penobscot beadwork artist from Maine. She is the owner of Penawapskewi Designs, where she creates traditional and contemporary beadwork inspired by her Penobscot heritage. Her work explores themes of identity, culture, family, and Indigenous resilience, with a particular interest in the ways communities preserve and pass on knowledge through beadwork.
As a Native woman and the wife of a Palestinian, Renae brings a unique perspective to conversations about Indigenous identity, displacement, and cultural survival. She is an advocate for both Native and Palestinian communities, drawing connections between histories of land loss, genocide, resilience, and the ongoing importance of maintaining culture, community, and belonging. Her work is grounded in creating pieces that allow people to express their identities, tell their stories, and visibly carry the causes they care about, including Indigenous sovereignty, Land Back, and a Free Palestine.
Sarah Alley
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Passamaquoddy Tribe
MEDIUM: Wood burning, beadwork, leather
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am Passamaquoddy from Sipayik. I am a co-founder of Creations by 2 Feathers, which is a family-run business that focuses on Native American art.
Penobscot NDN Beadwerks
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Penobscot Indian Nation
MEDIUM: Beadwork
ARTIST STATEMENT
Penobscot NDN Beadwerks is an art collective from the Penobscot Nation, consisting of siblings Mary Lee Stewart, Patty McMurphy, and Marvin McMurphy. They create unique pieces such as beaded jewelry, dreamcatchers, and turtle rattles, reflecting their creativity and cultural heritage
Wendy Little Bear
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Penobscot Indian Nation
MEDIUM: Cloth, Textiles
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am a 55-year-old mother of 4 and grandmother to 15 Lil’ Bears, which means I am always busy! I am a proud member of the Bear Clan from the Penobscot Nation and love being an Indigenous Crafter.
In 2004, I started my mentorship under my Auntie Ruth Francis in doll making. She created her Indigenous dolls in the late 1970’s because she wanted to give her children and grandchildren Indigenous dolls, and there were none to be found anywhere. She called me up one day and invited me to tea and promptly sat me down at her sewing machine. Later that year, she introduced me to the Basketmaker’s and Indigenous Crafting community as her legacy to her doll making. Who knew that those first eight dolls, 21 years later, would turn into my love of making her dolls and many more that I have gone on to create. When making the dolls, I can still feel her love and hear her guiding me as I work along. I can hear her say, “Don’t forget the toes and to sign their bodies”. Woliwoni Auntie for the best gift anyone has ever given to me!
I also create different types of beadwork, candles, soaps, regalia, quilts, canned goods, and so much more. I am currently mentoring a couple of my grandchildren, as well as June Glossian from the Penobscot Nation, in doll making, beadwork, and how to make regalia. Maybe one day you will see one or more of my grandchildren at the head of Little Bear Crafts!
Viola Francis
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Passamaquoddy Tribe
MEDIUM: Basketry, Beadwork, Painting
ARTIST STATEMENT
A talented and dedicated Wabanaki Artist from the Passamaquoddy Tribe in Sipayik, Viola Francis excels in an array of artistic pursuits, including basket making, regalia design, drum making, crafting, beadwork, painting, and dreamcatcher artistry. Viola's aesthetic is traditional with a contemporary modern mix. With a lifelong commitment to her craft, having started beading at the age of 12, Viola now mentors the next generation of artists and participates in charitable initiatives, utilizing her talents to benefit her community.
People of the Dawn Apothecary - Tiana Aurelio
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Penobscot Indian Nation
MEDIUM: Painter, Home & Body
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am a Penobscot artist, healer, and mother dedicated to revitalizing traditional medicine and Indigenous knowledge. With deep ancestral roots and a passion for holistic healing, My son Kaden and I founded People of the Dawn Apothecary, committed to helping others with traditional and all-natural remedies. Our work combines art, medicine, and cultural preservation, honoring our ancestors' wisdom while providing sustainable, earth-based healing solutions for the modern world. Our small business has enabled me to help out the Wabanaki community of elders by gifting them products throughout the past few years, we are honored to be doing this work.
All of our products are plastic-free and have holistic properties, please make sure to stop to say hello!
Connect with Tiana
Sierra Henries
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Chaubunagungamaug Band of Nipmuck
MEDIUM: Pyrography, Birchbark
ARTIST STATEMENT:
Sierra Autumn Henries has been a multimedia artist for over thirty years and is a member of the Chaubunagungamaug band of Nipmuck (MA) living at the intersection of Passamaquoddy and Penobscot homelands. She and her family care for land and their home in a place that rests at the feet of both Schoodic and Black mountains, and sits alongside Flanders stream, which flows only a short distance to the ocean waters of Flanders Bay.
Consisting primarily of pyrography and birch bark, her art endeavors to honor the beauty of natural color and form while incorporating line work that lives harmoniously with the material. Her Eastern Woodlands culture plays a role in all aspects of her artistic process - from mindset and approach while gathering bark, to the creation and completion of a design. Each piece is meticulously cut, sketched, and burned free-hand, no stencils are used. Every piece of art is unique and comes into being with their own story.
Through intentional process and a reflection of her relationship with land and community (both human and otherwise), Sierra hopes that her art will foster conversation and connection with nature, as well as sparking an interest in others to explore their own creative-self expression.
Her parents are Lisa and Hawk (flutemaker), her sister is Sequan, and her grandparents are Jayne, and Donald who journeyed 2023; Carol, and Little Crow who journeyed 2012; and Theresa Coates.
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Nancy LaCoote
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Passmaquoddy Tribe
MEDIUM: Beadwork
ARTIST STATEMENT:
I am a traditional Wabanaki artist, from the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township. I come from a family of basketmakers and have been beading for 9 years.
The main focus of my artwork is centered around beadwork. Made to be worn as traditional regalia and indigenous jewelry, with some pieces made and preserved as wall art.
Other focuses of my work surround painting, mural pieces, and digital art. All areas of my work are inspired by our traditional medicines and plants, double curves, our stories, and eastern woodland floral designs.
I started beading as a way to connect to culture, and have since made it my profession to connect others, mainly indigenous youth, to their culture. Whether that be through art classes, teaching/mentoring, educational opportunities, or through connection to traditional arts and ceremonies.
Kci Woliwon
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Kateri Aubin Dubois / Nisnipawset
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Malécite de Viger
MEDIUM: Beadwork
ARTIST STATEMENT:
Kateri Aubin Dubois is of Wolastoqey (Maliseet) origin and a member of Quebec's Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk First Nation. Kateri uses her native name, Nisnipawset, as her artist name. A name she received in a traditional ceremony when she became a woman. Since that day, she has cherished her name Nisnipawset (Two Moons) for all her creations. Her curiosity for the arts developed at an early age as she watched her mother paint her Maliseet story. Nisnipawset discovered her own artistic path in 2015, when she was studying at Concordia University. She enrolled in a workshop on glass bead weaving, where she discovered a passion.
To perfect her technical skills, Nisnipawset became a self-taught artisan. Kateri attended several training courses and accumulated thousands of hours of training on various web platforms. Her talent stands out for its technical quality and sense of meticulousness, which are widely recognized in the industry. She received a grant from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) to exhibit her work/jewelry in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. She was also part of the group exhibit Kmawqepiyapon in 2022 along with 14 other Wabanaki artists.
Today, Nisnipawset has become an accomplished craftswoman, selling her glass bead jewelry throughout Quebec, Canada, and the United States in various markets, boutiques, and museums. Her work can be described as professional, for she has a fabulous gift. Nisnipawset interweaves her ancestral motifs with contemporary techniques to bring out and enhance her Wolastoqey traditions.
Nisnipawset strives for perfection, her original creations pushing her to constantly experiment to reach the goal of a contemporary craftswoman/artist using only noble materials for her creations.
Kateri Aubin Dubois dreams that one day Nisnipawset will open her own boutique-gallery.
Connect with Kateri
Josh Carter
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation
MEDIUM: Jewelry
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am the son of Joseph Carter III and Nancy Bonin. I am of Pequot, Narragansett, African American and Irish decent. I am happily married to my best friend, we have four beautiful amazing children and recently received the precious gift of our first granddaughter. I am currently the Executive Director of our Tribal community’s very own Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center. I am head over heels in love with the traditional art of wampum. I really enjoy the conversations around its traditional use, the Pequot’s relationship to the ocean and to address the perpetuated fallacy that wampum traditionally was money. I was fortunate enough to establish a strong relationship with the most talented wampum maker known in modern times, Allen Hazard (Narragansett). I am forever indebted to him for his gifts of wisdom and patience that transcends wampum making. I will continue to honor my ancestors, Allen and my family by teaching all those in my community who would like to learn. I feel blessed to carry on this most beautiful ancient tradition.
Jo-Ellen Loring Jamieson
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Penobscot Indian Nation
MEDIUM: Beadwork
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am a tribal citizen of the Penobscot Nation. I learned to bead on Indian Island as a teenager. As an Indigenous woman born on Earth Day, I have a deep connection with nature and an inherent responsibility to do my part to help protect the planet. I sometimes use recycled and upcycled materials in my work which helps to reduce my footprint.
Jeanne Lewey
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Penobscot Indian Nation
MEDIUM: Home & Body
ARTIST STATEMENT
My name is Jeanne Lewey. I live between Indian Township and Indian Island, Maine; I am affiliated with the Penobscot Nation. My cultural upbringing influenced my artisan soap-making and for me, the creative process begins when I'm in nature. I make sweetgrass and cedar soaps using ingredients including wild-harvested Blue Glacier clay, essential oils, milk, activated charcoal, French green clay, and more. I'm self-taught and am in my happy place when I create. I am happiest when creating a new recipe, and hope that my products put a smile on others' faces.
Hawk Henries
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Chaubunagungamaug Band of Nipmuck
MEDIUM: Musician, Woodworker
MARKET PERFORMER: Sunday, July 12, 12-12:45 p.m. on the Market Stage
ARTIST STATEMENT:
Hawk is a member of the Chaubunagungamaug band of Nipmuck, a people indigenous to what is now Southern New England. He has been composing original music and making Eastern Woodlands flutes using hand tools for over 30 years.
Hawk will play a variety of different flutes. He also enjoys sharing his experiences and perspectives about Life in hopes of acknowledging and honoring the Sacredness in each person and all cultures. He creates a calming yet engaging and contemplative space while maintaining a note of humor. His music is a reflection of thinking that we each have the capacity to make a change in the world.
Hawk has had the honor of presenting at venues such as The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Harvard Medical School Graduation, and in the U.K. with the London Mozart Players. He also enjoys educational settings from kindergarten to university and small venues where he can engage the audience in dialogue.
As a seasoned flute maker, Hawk has flutes all over the world and in several museums. He has three original CD's; First Flight, Keeping the Fire and Voices. He is also featured on the compilation CD Tribal Winds. His music has been used in a variety of films and documentaries, some of which won or were nominated for Emmy awards.
Connect with Hawk
Eric Otter Bacon
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Passamaquoddy Tribe
MEDIUM: Basketry, Woodwork
ARTIST STATEMENT
As a young child, my mother mentioned that I constantly created hand-drawn copies of sneakers and boots, particularly focusing on the tread patterns.
Woodworking and basket making soon followed at around age five or so, influenced by several family members, including my maternal grandfather, a Grand Lake wood strip canoe builder, my father, a wood and bone/antler carver, and my uncle who steam bent wood into dog sleds. I also was inspired by many basket makers on the reservation.
At the age of 16, I started working with Loyd Owle, a renowned Cherokee artist at the Unity Youth Treatment Center in North Carolina. I learned leatherwork, stone carving, and other Native arts. While receiving treatment there, I discovered the value of life, and it was where my first pieces of Native art were sold.
For many years, I pursued a tattoo apprenticeship, focusing my artwork on the industry. I also conducted extensive research on indigenous patterns and designs from around the world.
In 2004, I started making baskets professionally. And during my first decade, I began participating in and winning art competitions at various Native art markets. My work was also featured in the collections of major museums across the country.
During this period, I collaborated closely with birch bark canoe builders David Moses Bridges and Steve Cayard, constructing five different bark canoes with various Native communities to acquire and exchange knowledge of traditional canoe construction and material gathering/preparation.
In the future, I want to keep sharing and teaching the traditional arts knowledge I've gained. My goal is to inspire others to find value and hope within themselves so they have the tools to lead a positive and meaningful life.
Corinna Francis
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Passamaquoddy Tribe
MEDIUM: Beadwork
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Chance Griffith
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians
MEDIUM: Basketry - Other
ARTIST STATEMENT:
’Hey there, My name is Chance Griffith I’m 24 years old I grew up in Tucson, Arizona one of the hottest deserts in the world the “Sonoran” desert I’m also a U.S Tribal member I’m apart of the “The MALISEET Tribe “located in Northern” Maine” being far away from my culture and community inspired me to do self searching learning all the history of my tribe. My father “Aron Griffith” is a Birch bark basket maker my father would often travel back to our reservation in Maine to harvest birch bark to make traditional/contemporary birch bark art not understanding why birch bark was so important to my people I learned it was used to make shelter, canoes, baskets, traditionally I saw how my father turned something like bark into art that gave me inspiration to create something of my own that I could bring back with my to my reservation and recreate what a modern day indigenous artists are capable of doing outside of the norms of traditional native art making.’
Carolyn Anderson
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians
MEDIUM: Painting/Illustration
ARTIST STATEMENT:
Carolyn is a visual artist living in Houlton, Maine. Carolyn is a 2013 graduate from the University of Maine at Presque Isle where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with painting and photography concentrations, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Art Education.
Carolyn started out with a desire for photography and fell into a love for painting. Her medium of choice is acrylics but at times using other mediums as well. Inspiration for her work comes from her hometown, nature and her tribe The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians.
Carolyn currently has work available for sale at the Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor, The Pines Grill in Monticello and The Wolastoq Inn in Houlton.
