Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel (b.1960)* grew up on Occum Lane on Mohegan Hill, on the homestead of her legendary ancestor, Samson Occum/Occom. She learned Mohegan traditions from her great-aunt, Gladys Tantaquidgeon.
Zobel holds multiple academic…
Basket, Ash Splint, Abenaki
The Universal Container
We do not think of baskets in a practical way anymore; they are mostly decorative art. If we need a durable container for large dry goods, we are likely to use a plastic bin. Starting in the 1930s,…
This card comes from an educational kit called "Indians Who Met the Pilgrims," produced by the Boston Children's Museum (BCM) in the early 1970s in collaboration with regional Native educators and activists. Frank James was an Aquinnah Wampanoag…
Farm Basket, mid-late 1800s, Wood Splint, Abenaki, Housed at the Hopkinton Historical Society
The Life of a Basket
waligek abaznoda gagalnemenal/ abaznodakad w’eljial.
A good basket holds its maker's hands.
(Jesse Bruchac, "Abaznodaal")
Baskets are…
Eel Weir, c. early 1900s, Wood Splint, Abenaki, Housed at The Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum
An unidentified fishing basket trap from the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum in Warner, NH, is likely an eel trap. Woven from wood splints, it stands nearly three…
At her home in Oakland, RI, Princess Red Wing offered day camps for children as well as a gathering space for local Native people. The 1937 booklet Rhode Island: A Guide to the Smallest State reported that Camp Ki-Yi was "where local Indians spend…
Fancy Basket, c. 1900, Ash Splint, Abenaki, Housed at the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum
This is a small, purely decorative, fancy basket. The main structure of the basket is tightly woven with light colored ash splints. The even sized and very smooth…