The Wabanaki: Indigenous People of Maine

The traditional stories collected in this volume link the memories of Passamaquoddy elders to the world of today's younger generations. Connections between the generations have been weakened over the past few decades with the potential loss of the Passamaquoddy language, which is still spoken fluently by older members of the community. Until just a few decades ago, the stories found in this volume were told orally as an integral part of Passamaquoddy home life. Since the late 1800s, thanks to intense interest in documenting the language and in ensuring its survival, many stories have been written down by native speakers and have been recorded by them, on everything from wax cylinders, beginning in 1890, to analogue and digital media.This book begins with "Maliyan: Mary Ann," an account of life in the Passamaquoddy communities in the early 1900s, and continues with a collection of stories that have been told since that time. They reflect elements from older Passamaquoddy stories about Koluskap and the earliest days of the world. This last set were written down in Passamaquoddy in the late 1800s by Lewis Mitchell, the great-grandfather of this collection's editor, Wayne A. Newell, who has carefully edited all the stories here to reflect Passamaquoddy oral tradition in written form.

Young Kunu wants to make a pack basket on his own. He's watched his dad and his grandfather make baskets on Indian Island, but now that he's trying to make one for himself, it's not as easy as he thought it would be. Kunu isn't a quitter, but he gets so frustrated that he has to go outside to cool off. When his grandfather asks Kunu to help him with some basket-making tasks, Kunu comes to understand that it is the tradition in his family for one generation to help the next. He also learns that it might take several tries before he gets it right. Can he be patient enough to try again and again? His grandfather shows him the way, and at last Kunu's first basket is something to celebrate.

For generations, Native American traditional artists in the Northeast have passed on their culture through beadwork, basketry, canoe making, wood carving, and quilting. Through the work and words of over thirty-five traditional artists living and working primarily in Maine and New York, "North by Northeast" explores these artists' connection to place, tradition, and cultural identity. A tribute to the resourcefulness and creativity of contemporary practicing artists from the Wabanaki, Akwesasne Mohawk, and Tuscarora tribes, the book is beautifully illustrated with the work of photographers Cedric Chatterley, Peggy McKenna, Jere DeWaters, and Peter Dembski. Essays by Salli Benedict, Sue Ellen Herne, Jennifer Neptune, Theresa Secord and Lynne Williamson.

Musquon must overcome her impatience while learning to distinguish sweetgrass from other salt marsh grasses, but slowly the spirit and peace of her surroundings speak to her, and she gathers sweetgrass as herancestors have done for centuries, leaving the first blade she sees to grow for future generations. This sweet, authentic story from a Maliseet mother and her Passamaquoddy husband includes backmatter about traditional basket making and a Wabanaki glossary.

Immerse yourself in the visual language of the Wabanaki tribe and learn about how the art was---and continues to be--preserved and celebrated. For centuries, the people of the Wabanaki Nations of the northeastern United States and eastern Canada used signs, symbols and designs to communicate with one another. As Native Peoples became victims of European expansion, the Wabanaki were separated by war, the search for work and intermarriage, as well as by hiding their identities to avoid persecution. In this diaspora, their visual language helped them keep their teachings and culture alive. Their designs have evolved over time and taken on different meanings, and they are now used on objects that are considered art.

For millennia, textiles have played a vital role as Native communities have expressed and maintained their identity. This large and distinctive body of Wabanaki artifacts challenges stereotypes about Native textiles and clothing that are based on more familiar styles from better known regions of North America. For Wabanakis, textiles have long been a rich and important medium. They record how, beginning in the seventeenth century, an indigenous people coped with a rapidly expanding alien culture that surrounded them. The Wabanakis defined their view of this new world through their clothing and costume. For all cultures, important occasions and life events demand special clothes that communicate messages to the viewer. By examining Wabanaki costume, including specific styles and decorative ornament, one can find information that illuminates the history of the Wabanakis, their means of communication, and the ways they coped with a rapidly changing world.

In late September 1820, hoping to lay claim to territory then under dispute between Great Britain and the United States, Governor William King of the newly founded state of Maine dispatched Major Joseph Treat to survey public lands on the Penobscot and Saint John Rivers. Traveling well beyond the limits of colonial settlement, Treat relied heavily on the cultural knowledge and expertise of John Neptune, lieutenant governor of the Penobscot tribe, to guide him across the Wabanaki homeland. Along the way Treat recorded his daily experiences in a journal and drew detailed maps, documenting the interactions of the Wabanaki peoples with the land and space they knew as home. Edited, annotated, and with an introduction by Micah Pawling, this volume includes a complete transcription of Treat's journal, reproductions of dozens of hand-drawn maps, and records pertaining to the 1820 treaty between the Penobscot Nation and the governing authorities of Maine.

"Women of the Dawn" tells the stories of four remarkable Wabanaki women who lived in Northeast America during the four centuries that devastated their traditional world. Their courageous responses to tragedies brought on by European contact make up the heart of the book. The narrative begins with Molly Mathilde (1665-1717), a mother, a peacemaker, and the daughter of a famous chief. Born in the mid-1600s, when Wabanakis first experienced the full effects of colonial warfare, disease, and displacement, she provided a vital link for her people through her marriage to the French baron of St. Castin. The saga continues with the shrewd and legendary healer Molly Ockett (1740-1816) and the reputed witchwoman Molly Molasses (1775-1867). The final chapter belongs to Molly Dellis Nelson (1903-1977) (known as Spotted Elk), a celebrated performer on European stages who lived to see the dawn of Wabanaki cultural renewal in the modern era.