Browse Items (189 total)

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,…

Various Baskets, Plastic, Lumber, and Gourd, AbenakiA History of Adaptation Change through time. In nature, these three words define the process required of all living things for survival. For the Abenaki, they represent the survival of a culture.…

Berry Basket, 1840, Ash Splint & Hong Kong Cord, Abenaki, Housed at the Hopkinton Historical Society Made from ash splint and detailed with Hong Kong Cord, this berry basket stands out because of the handwritten note on its ash splints that names…

Fancy Hamper, c. 1900, Ash Splint, Abenaki, Housed at the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum This basket, housed at the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum, is a fancy basket hamper decorated with cowiss that dates to c. 1900s. Cowiss is the Abenaki word for the…

Hair Basket, c.1880-1920, sweetgrass & ash splint, Mi'kmaq, Housed at the Hopkinton Historical Society Probably made by Mi’kmaq Indians, this small fancy basket was used as a holding place for locks of hair ("Hair Basket"). Keeping hair for…

Hat Basket, c.1860-1880, Ash Splint, Abenaki, Housed at the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum This hat basket, one that would have been sold to tourists, nicely illustrates Abenaki basketry's functional and aesthetic appeal. The chain link design on the…

Thomas Commuck (Narragansett) published his hymnal, Indian Melodies, in 1845. While Commuck clearly states that the purpose of this collection is to “make a little money,” to provide for the needy as well as his family, and to “spread the knowledge…