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, galvanized bushel baskets and pails, made by machine in vast numbers, were the universal carry-alls, ("Newton Washburn"). Before that, the universal container was the wooden basket. A sturdy, durable container, it was, pound for pound, much stronger than galvanized steel, and in some ways more durable. In fact, baskets retard spoilage by providing controlled ventilation and are still heavily used for harvesting and storing apples and other produce (Congdon).
In upper Vermont, the Sweetser family made many, if not most, of the baskets sold commercially (Linzee 25). The family originated in the early 1800′s by the marriage of a German immigrant basket-maker to a basket-maker from Odanak, Canada ("Newton Washburn"). By the 1920′s, there were over a hundred family members making baskets in a small area between Stowe and Lamoille, Vermont (Eaton 51). They sold their products all over upper Vermont and their brown-ash baskets were unusually sturdy, with a hybrid vigor from the marriage of Abenaki and European designs.
Born into the Sweetser extended family in 1915, Newt Washburn grew up making baskets; it was his family’s winter occupation. They made “bushel baskets… egg baskets, apron baskets, laundry, feather, berry, bike, and pack baskets … baskets for every need, even baby cradles and fishing creels” (Linzee 25). It was a communal activity, with families often getting together for basketmaking parties. But their Abenaki heritage was a family secret: “It was frowned on. If anyone knew, I wouldn’t be able to play with the other kids and the neighbors wouldn’t let me in their houses to play” (Colquhoun).
Secrecy about their heritage was not unusual. Arthur Sweetser, a basketmaker working in the late 1940’s, explained that one day when his grandfather brought his grandmother “into a store with him [to trade baskets for goods] … he introduced her as ‘my squaw.’ [His] Grandmother was so mad she didn’t make any baskets for a couple of years” (Eaton 51).
By the mid-30′s, the market for baskets greatly diminished, displaced by all manner of modern containers. By the end of World War II, with the need to find other work, the Sweetser community was largely dispersed (Colquhoun). After serving in the war, Washburn moved to Bethlehem, NH, where he worked repairing auto bodies, shaping steel instead of wood ("Newton Washburn"). He was forced to retire by two heart attacks in the early 1970′s ("Newton Washburn").
I came home from my last heart attack. That’s the day I started. I don’t know how many years I’d lived here then, but I went down back on my own land, leaning against a tree, watching the river. Something told me to look at the tree. I stepped back and looked. It was a brown ash tree growing on the river bank… That night I had a basket made. And I haven’t stopped since. (Linzee 26)
While recuperating, Washburn found himself drawn back to his family’s heritage and craft (26). It was the beginning of the Abenaki renaissance in New England, which caused a growing interest in baskets (Berolzheimer). Working out of a small workshop at his house in Bethlehem, NH, “Silent Bear” made baskets for more than twenty-five years (26). He was the last basket-maker still working who was part of the earlier, utilitarian cottage industry where he learned his craft (26). His baskets are beautiful examples of a highly refined, utilitarian design that leaps from craft to art. He continued to innovate within his tradition, as with his signature combination of an “Abenaki star” basket bottom with a concave “demijohn” bottom, which greatly strengthens the basket (26).
As his ability to practice his craft diminished with age, Washburn’s scope of concern widened to the sustainability of his people and his craft. The Sweetsers had always kept their craft within the family but as the last holder of the tradition, Washburn realized that it would be lost if he did not teach others ("Newton Washburn"). To continue the tradition, Washburn taught at pow-wows and at schools. He mentored more than eighty apprentices, many or most of them Abenaki, including Sherry and Bill Gould ("Western Abenaki Baskets"). His apprentices have gone on to teach others through apprenticeships, events, and writings.
Newt Washburn died in 2011. Like the basket spokes we see radiating from that exuberant signature, those he taught are the framework of a lasting, universal container of his legacy – a basket made of people of the ash, carrying the craft of his ancestors onto the uncertain waters of the future.
Berolzheimer, Alan. The Flow of History Winter, 2011. Web.
Congdon, Kristin G. and Kara Kelley Hallmark. American Folk Art: A Regional Reference. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2012. Print.
Colquhoun, Lorna. “Littleton Honors Native Americans; Governor, Town Celebrates Cultural Day, Invites Tribal Leaders”. New Hampshire Sunday News 26 September 1993: 1B. Print.
DeSorbo, Mark A. “State’s Top Arts Promoters Honored”. New Hampshire Union Leader 20 September 1995: A1. Print.
Eaton, Allen H. Handicrafts of New England. New York: Bonanza Books, 1949. Print.
Linzee, Jill and Michael P. Chaney. Deeply Rooted: New Hampshire Traditions in Wood. Durham: University of New Hampshire, 1997. Print.
“Newton Washburn“. National Endowment for the Arts. Web.
”Western Abenaki Baskets – Home.“ Western Abenaki Baskets. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.
Photographs by Alicia Gagne.
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. Without change, the people native to areas of northern New England and Southern Quebec would have no history and perhaps even more importantly, no future (Porter 6).
Traditional Abenaki baskets were, and continue to be, woven from sweet grass and splints of ash (Dow, Personal Interview). Abenaki baskets, originally made using various techniques to serve a practical purpose, experienced a change in the late 1800s (Porter 6). Basketmakers adjusted to the changing times, ultimately creating "fancy baskets" (6). By the end of the last century, Abenaki fancy baskets were in such high demand that molds were created to increase production rates and to have a uniform product to sell, while the baskets themselves were sold through catalogs (6).
By adapting to social, political, economic, and environmental changes, I am following in the footsteps of my ancestors. The creation of fancy baskets was an adaptation that filled a need for survival… using new and different materials is how I see Abenaki basketry meeting the needs of culture in this new century. - Judy Dow, We Are Still Here
Abenaki basketmaker, Judy Dow, is an important personality in the current Abenaki revitalization movement (Dow, Personal Interview). Her baskets have been on exhibit in many museums, such as Strawberry Banke and the National Museum of the American Indian (Vermont Governor's Institute on the Arts). Dow provides a unique approach in preserving Abenaki cultural identity through basketmaking by using nontraditional materials (Dow, Personal Interview).
Judy Dow's philosophies for "Saba" (Abenaki for tomorrow) bring awareness to how current mechanisms of revitalization do not honor change as a facet of Abenaki culture (Dow). By not continuing to adapt, the foundation of a culture is at risk.
Abenaki baskets are traditionally made using four techniques: Coiling, twining, plaited, and one-piece (Dow). Judy Dow portrays each technique as a different branch on a single tree (Dow). Instead of only focusing on one branch, Dow uses all of the techniques when she incorporates her adaptations (Dow). While the material of the basket is changing (along with the tools used to make it) it is important to Dow that the technique remains: "The techniques are gifts from our ancestors" (Dow, Email).
In addition to the preservation of techniques, Dow illustrates how the basket making process should be conserved. For example, the art of basketmaking requires the individual to have a connection to the land and knowledge of it (Dow, Personal Interview). Basketmakers gather their own raw materials and prepare them by hand (Dow). In the traditional sense, this refers to basketmakers who cut and pound their own ash (Dow). Although Judy's baskets are not always made from ash, she continues to demonstrate the Abenaki tradition of harvest. She collects all her materials, be it plastic bags, pantyhose, or flax straw (Dow).
Above all, in order to be a basketmaker, one must portray patience, perseverance, preservation, and most importantly, pride. "The Four P's," as Dow puts it, should define Abenaki generations of the past, present, and future (Dow).
The conservation of the Brown Ash population has been a growing concern over the past few years, especially for Native American basketmakers - in part because of the introduction of the emerald beetle (USDA). The necessity for change has shifted the process of basketmaking towards the use of alternative materials. Judy Dow is perhaps the most creative and adaptive basketmaker today in many ways, all of which promote the conservation of brown ash and the adaptation to use other materials. She has made baskets out of a variety of 'everyday' materials such as old fast food bags, nylon, wrappers, and lumber strapping (Dow, Personal Interview). Because they attract the eye, baskets made out of this material bring attention to sustainability.
Her style of basketmaking underscores an important lesson that can be learned from Abenaki culture: the cost of cultural survival. If there is no longer a way to do something in the traditional sense, it is possible to adapt in a manner that maintains the cultural identity of the process. Along with recycling common materials, Judy Dow also finds creative ways of using everyday tools for basketmaking. For example, when her old splint cutting tool broke, she used her pasta cutter from her kitchen instead (Dow). This is one of many instances where adaptations are shown in Abenaki culture, further proving that it is possible for a heritage to survive once the significance of adapting is taught to the younger - interested and willing - generations.
By adapting tools and materials, the basketry techniques will live on and then so will our heritage.- Judy Dow, We Are Still Here
Dow, Judy. "Dowessay." 23 Nov. 2012. E-mail.
Dow, Judy. Personal Interview. 11 Oct. 2012.
Lori, Carolyn. "Shaping the talk on American Indians." The Valley News. 24 November 2005. Web.
Porter, Frank W. "Native American Basketry." The Art of Native American Basketry: A Living Legacy. New York: Greenwood, 1990. 67. Print.
USDA Agricultural Research Service. "NPGS Ash Conservation Project." N.d. Digital file.
Vermont's Governor's Institute on the Arts. "Judy Dow." 12 June 2012. Web.
"We're Still Here" Online Exhibit. Center For New England Culture. University of New Hampshire. N.d. Web.
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 the encampment on Bassett Mill Road in Hopkinton, NH as the location where it was sold and possibly made. The various splints of varying shapes and sizes, which were "not cut using a gauge as is typical of later baskets made by Abenaki artisan basketmakers," indicate the basket as utilitarian (Hopkinton Historical Society). The basket "is physical evidence of Native American life in Hopkinton in the 1800s," which is important because Indians in New England are commonly presumed to have disappeared (Hopkinton Historical Society). This basket is one object among many that offers proof of Native Americans in New England and is representative of Abenaki culture, tradition, and survival.
Hong Kong cord, "a commercially produced cord of natural fibers, imported and sold to native Americans for use in woodsplint baskets," was used instead of sweetgrass to speed up production, which shows the Abenaki ability to adapt in order to survive economically (McMullen 19). Despite being hard to acquire, sweegrass is still used in baskets today. Because Baskets have taken a more artistic and cultural meaning, they can sell for much more. Being able to use different materials, however, is important to many basketmakers. For example, Judy Dow and Gail Tremblay use modern and sometimes unusual materials while still weaving in the traditional way. They do this because it is important to preserve the process even if traditional materials are increasingly difficult to find.
Ash trees are becoming rarer because of the emerald ash borer, an invasive species from Asia. The emerald ash borer attacks the ash tree, eating the leaves while the larvae burrow into the tree bark, making it unsuitable for making into splints. Because the ash borer is so devastating to the ash tree, it has a big affect on the Native community, especially those who pound ash for baskets. There are efforts, however, to preserve the tree and stop the spread of the emerald ash borer. The Cerceris wasp, for example, makes a good predator for the emerald ash borer. Education is also a powerful tool as the transportation of firewood is the easiest and fastest way for the borer to spread. Discouraging people from transporting firewood is the best way to prevent the spread of the borer.
Some Abenaki are also involved in conservation efforts. For example, the Nulhegan tribe along with the Sierra Club of Vermont is advocating for tribal and town forests called the Our Forests Our Future initiative: "The land we walk upon is a gift and from that land my people were able to meet their every need and maintain the beauty of the land" (SierraClubVT). The forests would only be used for traditional activities such as sustainable hunting and fishing, recreational activities such as hiking, and would serve as “a place to teach our children the simplicity of sustainable living and stewardship” (SierraClubVT). These forests would also help with the acquirement of ash trees for basketmaking as well as provide clean air to breathe in addition to clean medicine and food. One of the goals of the project is to provide safe, natural habitats and migration routes for animals. By building community, sustainable resources, and a sanctuary for wildlife, tribal and town forests offer many positive aspects for both natives and non-natives alike. The natural materials of this basket are an important part of Abenaki culture as illustrated through the Abenaki creation story. The only way that baskets can continue to be made with traditional materials is through conservation and preservation.
As emphasized in many of the basket descriptions, the passing down of traditional ways to the younger generation is imperative to the continuance of the Abenaki culture. The goal of teaching children traditional ways is underscored on the Nulhegan Abenaki website: "Teaching our young ones the skills and customs of our ancestors keeps our heritage alive. We empower our children to, not only to survive but, thrive during economic hardships by utilizing the traditions and practices of our ancestors, such as organic agriculture and permaculture" ("Culture"). Town and tribal forests can also serve as a place to teach children traditional ways as well as teach non-native children a more accurate depiction of history and Abenaki way of life in order to break down erroneous stereotypes.
"Culture." Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe. Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe, 2012. Web. 21 July 2012.
McMullen, Ann. Key into the Language of Woodsplint Baskets. Institution for American Indian Studies, 1987.
Mundell, Kathleen. North by Northeast: Wabanaki, Akwesasne Mohawk, and Tuscarora Traditional Arts. TilburyHousePublishers, 2008.
SierraclubVT. Luke Willard at Vermont May Day Rally 2012-Abenaki Tribal Forests. YouTube. YouTube, 10 May 2012. Web. 21 July 2012.
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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 spiral strips of splint that add texture to the basket (Wiseman 135). The inside wefts (horizontal splints) are dyed a pretty sea green and provide an appealing contrast to the tan colored warps (vertical splints) (McMullen 20). This basket is representative of the type of basket that would be found in non-native basketseller catalogues (Clark).
After fancy baskets rose in demand and popularity, "non-native middlemen set out to organize and control the basket industry by preparing wholesale catalogues, supplying tools and molds and raw materials (including dyes), and dictating what baskets would be made" (Porter 67). Non-native middlemen hoped to streamline the basket selling process in order to increase their profits and facilitate the transportation of baskets to customers. However, this had the following negative impact on native basketmakers:
-Basketmakers made less money per basket
-Basketmakers were no longer in control of the designs and styles of the baskets
-Basketmakers were no longer free in expressing themselves through their basketry
-The catalogues showcased large amounts of the same type of baskets, which reduced the value of each basket
The St. Regis Indian Trading Company is one example of this type of middleman industry. Their catalogue, for instance, illustrates baskets as one of many instead of one of a kind. The catalogue describes a similar basket as follows: "hampers for soiled linen, made Urn shape of fine splint sides decorated with rows of curl trimming, detachable covers" (St. Regis Indian Trading Company). Because it focuses on the physical function and appearance of the basket, the description strips the basket of character and personality. It attempts to reduce the basket into an object without a story. Before middleman companies, baskets were usually purchased either directly from the basketmaker or through a family member or friend. The transaction itself was interactive, social and a part of the story of the basket. The catalogue removed the necessity of meeting the creator and turned the transaction into any other everyday purchase.
Because basketmakers were no longer able to make a living on selling baskets alone, many of them took other jobs in order to feed their families (Porter). Less and less American Indians taught their children or made baskets. Many assumed that basketry was a dying art form until American Indians from various tribes took it upon themselves to revitalize basketry. Today many Abenaki are able to make a living through basketmaking. Furthermore, baskets are treated as more than a functional object or as art: they are full of stories.
Clark, Lynn. "Comments on Basket Essays." 8 Aug. 2012. E-mail.
McMullen, Ann. Key into the Language of Woodsplint Baskets. Institution for American Indian Studies, 1987. Print.
Mundell, Kathleen. North by Northeast: Wabanaki, Akwesasne Mohawk, and Tuscarora Traditional Arts. Tilbury House Publishers, 2008. Print.
Porter, Frank W. The Art of Native American Basketry: A Living Legacy. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1990. Google Books. Web. 29 Aug. 2012.
St. Regis Indian Trading Company. "St. Regis Indian Trading Company Catalogue." 46-47. Print.
Wiseman, Frederick Matthew. The Voice of the Dawn: An Autohistory of the Abenaki Nation. University Press of New England, 2001. Print.
]]>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 sentimental value, "possibly the curls from a first haircut or a memento of a deceased loved one," was popular during Victorian times ("Hair Basket"). This particular basket belonged to Rose Putney Hanson of Hopkinton whose "grandfather, True Putney (1849-1904), remembered Native Americans coming to Hopkinton to sell baskets" ("Hair Basket"). This cylindrical basket is made out of ash splints and sweetgrass. The top edge of the basket is lined with ash splint lace, which was "used by Native basketmakers and was also sold to non-Native basketmakers such as the Shakers"("Hair Basket"). The inside of the basket has dyed purple splints but the outside splints probably lost their color because of sunlight exposure. Sweetgrass has a sweet scent that lasts long after the grass has been dried: "A popular grass that was used then and is still used today is sweetgrass, which is also a sacred grass used in Mi'kmaq ceremonies such as the sweetgrass ceremony that purifies and cleanses body, spirit, and mind" (Sark). This basket is included in the archive because it emphasizes Mi’kmaq culture.
One of the ways that the basket showcases Mi’kmaq culture is through its material. More than simple material, the sweetgrass in this basket has a deeper meaning. It is a plant that has a spiritual connotation. One version of the Mi'kmaq creation story explains how Kluskap's nephew was created by the joining of sweetgrass and the sea: "To honor Kluskap's nephew we braid the sweetgrass, the hair of mother earth" (A Mi'kmaq Creation Story). Basket materials, through their difficult procurement and association with the creation story, are just as important as the basket itself. This hair basket represents tradition, culture, and the hard work and careful mastery of Mi’kmaq basketmakers.
Mi'kmaqs have been making baskets for generations. The Mi'kmaqs adapted to economical change brought on by the Europeans by changing the types of baskets they made. Baskets were very important before contact with Europeans and were used for storage and the transportation of goods (Sark). After the Europeans arrived, Mi'kmaqs began trading baskets to Europeans in exchange for materials they did not have and these baskets were utilitarian in nature (Sark). In addition, baskets and the technique of basketmaking were used for the procurement of food: "They contributed to Mi'kmaq survival also by being used for fishing purposes: 'The larger fish were caught most commonly by two methods: one was to build a weir across the stream and to place a basket net in the mouth of a small opening. When the basket filled, it would be emptied and returned to the water'" (Sark). Later on during the 1800s, Mi'kmaqs made both utilitarian baskets and fancy baskets. Utilitarian baskets were sold to farmers during harvests to hold potatoes and other items (Carter). Unfortunately, the farmers overlooked the quality of the baskets and baskets did not sell for the price they were worth (Carter). Fancy baskets, on the other hand, were more decorative and could sell for a higher price. These baskets were appreciated for their art and intricate detail (Sark).
Making a basket is a difficult procedure. In his article, "Making a Micmac Basket," Roland Caplan explains how a Mi'kmaq basket is made with the instruction of Ellen Googoo, a long time Mi'kmaq basketmaker. The materials, he explains, are hard to come by: "the right wood is not easy to find. It must have good straight grain and no knots" (Caplan 3). The tree must also have "the right texture and the right sap" so that it will split right (Sark). Once the splints are made, they must be smoothed: "The step of smoothing is known as Nultaguan" (Caplan 4). A crooked knife, which has a handle with a curve to it, is used for this process (4). Once the splints are made, it is possible to dye them in different colors. Alternatively, the splints can be left to their natural color. Although commercial dye was used often in the 1800s, natural dye was also sometimes used: "When Mi'kmaq women wanted to include colour in their baskets, they could also dye strips of reed and grass, using berries in various concentrations to create the colours they wanted" (Sark). Different designs, colors, and ways of weaving the baskets each have a meaning and illustrate the artistic skill and passion of basketmakers. Even plain baskets have different widths of splints and patterns of weaving. There are various basket styles from plainer utalitarian baskets to fancy baskets decorated with quillwork. They are all a part of Mi'kmaq culture.
Mi'kmaq Indians are also known for their quillwork on baskets and birchbark. Quillwork is intricate and like basketry takes time and patience. Although few people are left who specialize in quillwork, classes and renewed interest are helping to keep this tradition alive. For example, “The Mi’kmaq Tradition of Quill Basket Making” describes the positive energy created by a quillwork class conducted by Mi’kmaq artisan Beverly Julian of Millbrook: “A sense of Mi’kmaq Pride resonated in a classroom downstairs at the Wagmatook Cultural center just before Christmass 2010” (Paul). The class has encouraged many students to pass down their skills to the next generation (Paul). The continuance of basket making relies on the teaching of the traditions to the younger generation. Their adaptability helps the tradition survive. Our Lives in Our Hands also depicts a basket making class filled with students of all ages. Although few people were making baskets, renewed interest is increasing the number of basketmakers as well as the number of people interested in purchasing baskets.
The mid to late 1900s were difficult for the Mi'kmaqs especially before their federal recognition in 1980 (Carter). Mechanization on farms made baskets obsolete and the allure of cheap machine-made objects easily shadowed the hard work and mastery that goes into making a basket (Carter). However, basketmaking is again making its way to the forefront. Various basketmakers, Mi'kmaq and otherwise, are emphasizing their handmade craft as something that is worth paying a high price for. For example, Rita Smith, was a basketmaker also known for her work for the First Nation Horton reserve. This video shows her teaching her grandchildren about basketmaking. In a world were most objects are mass produced by machines, a handmade object heavily stands out as representative of culture and physical skill.
This basket is important because it demonstrates the skill, adaptability, and devotion to detail and art of the Mi’kmaq people during a time that was historically very difficult. Despite changes in the economy as well as pressure from the Europeans to think and act in different ways, they were able to keep basket making, quillwork, and other traditions alive.
A Mi'kmaq Creation Story. Youtube. Youtube, 16 June 2011. Web. 27 June 2012.
Caplan, Ronald. "Making a MicMac Basket." Cape Breton's Magazine 1 Jan. 1973: 3-5. Print.
Carter, Karen, and Harold Prins, dirs. Our Lives in Our Hands. Documentary Educational Resources, 1986. Film.
"Hair Basket." Hopkinton Historical Society.
Paul, George. "Quill Basketry." Nova Scotia Basketry Guild. Nova Scotia Basketry Guild, n.d. Web.
Sark, Tiffany. "Basket Weaving." The Government of Prince Edward Island. Government of Prince Edward Island, 2001. Web. 27 June 2012.
]]>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 lid, a common design on many baskets, represents friendship (Hopkinton Historical Society). The inside of the basket is lined with newspaper, a common practice at the time, and serves a purely functional purpose (Fitzgerald 52). Although various words can be read from the print, the basket overtakes the newspaper as the "text" through its continuance of Abenaki culture and tradition (Fitzgerald 52).
The earliest baskets were used for carrying items and storage. However, beginning in the nineteenth century, an influx of tourists into northern New England turned this tradition into a way to earn a living. As authentic Native-made baskets became more fashionable. their design changed. They went from simple, understated containers to brightly colored affairs designed to draw consumers' attention.
When visitors to New England were shelling out cash for authentic Native American-made baskets, they wanted what they envisioned as the full Native experience. Some Abenaki families, like that of Maurice Dennis, donned stereotypically “Indian” looking clothing expressly to sell their wares (McMullen 32). Cultural observers, and basketmakers themselves, have mixed feelings about these accommodations. One Native anthropologist, Lisa Neuman, has expressed concern about the damage done to Native cultures and economies when basketmakers are forced "into the expected stereotypical roles of indigenous 'craftspeople'” (90). In Maine, Neuman observers, voters roundly defeated a Wabanaki proposal to build a casino for economic self-sufficiency. In Neuman's assessment, non-Native citizens expected Wabanaki people to "'stay quietly on our reservations'. . . passive and docile rather than full participants in Maine’s economy” (91).
Art historian Joan Lester details these aesthetic changes: “Basket weavers were already accustomed to accommodating their craft to non-Indian tastes and styles. By the 1860s, round, covered ash-splint baskets with splints of varying widths, swabbed with color, were being made by Penobscot weavers [in Maine]. Modeled after hat boxes and bandboxes, these baskets were sought after for their practical as well as aesthetic qualities. And the weavers seem to have understood what would appeal to this new tourist market.”
On the other hand, some basketmakers use their art directly to combat stereotypical attitudes. Gail Tremblay (Onondaga/Mi'kmaq) makes baskets out of a material that is arguably a prime source of many contemporary stereotypes: film stock. She effectively “us[es] film against its cultural grain to build an indigenous object for preservation” (Cohen 176). Similarly, Judy Dow (Abenaki) makes baskets out of materials including recycled gum wrappers and pantyhose as a way of commenting on the depletion of natural resources on which her people--and all people--depend. Moreover, Dow asserts, adaptation is a way of ensuring that "basketry techniques will live on and then so will our heritage."
Cohen, Matt. The Networked Wilderness: Communicating in Early New England. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010.
Fitzgerald, Stephanie. "The Cultural Work of a Mohegan Painted Basket." Early Native Literacies in New England. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2008. 52-56. Print.
Lester, Joan. "We Didn't Make Fancy Baskets Until We Were Discovered." In Ann McMullen and Russell Handsman, eds.,. A Key Into the Language of Woodsplint Baskets. Washington, CT: Institute for American Indian Studies, 1987. 42-53.
Neuman, Lisa K. "Basketry as Economic Enterprise and Cultural Revitalization: The Case of the Wabanaki Tribes of Maine." Wicazo Sa Review (25)2. 2010. 89-106.
Indian Melodies was written while Thomas Commuck lived in Wisconsin. Commuck states that he authored the book; by this, he means that he both collected learned songs and wrote his own as well. While the majority of songs seem to be written by Commuck, some, such as the very first song, “Pequot,” have “Words by Dr. Watts” or another such suggestion. The songs themselves are both religious and richly expressive and their context consists of everyday life, hardships, harmony, and the connection one has with a higher power. No matter the context, the songs continually consist of a descriptive language of emotion or commentary on various experiences. Some of the most powerful songs are those including religious experience and natural imagery. The song, “Flathead” is able to represent behaviors and characteristics of the Flathead Indian Nation, while using the concept of a higher power, harmony, fellowship, and natural imagery. The mixture of all these things creates a noble representation of the Flathead people,
Blest are the sons of peace
Whose hearts and hopes are one
Whose kind designs to serve and please
Through all their actions runBlessed is the pious house
Where zeal and friendship meet
Their songs of praise, their mingled vows,
Make their communions sweetThus on the heavenly hills
The saints are blest above
Where joy, like morning dew distils
And all the air is love (Commuck 10).
Commuck writes of their personal characters, how they spend time together, their belief in heaven, and importantly, their connection with nature. The fact that in the same stanza referencing the Flatheads’ beliefs, nature is entwined, exemplifies the fact that while Native Americans before and in Commuck’s time may have converted to Christianity, they have not lost their roots in the process. Everything here is positive and represents one Native American’s view, of a fellow Native people. In this way, Commuck not only uses Indian Melodies as a form of expression, he also uses it in a way that positively asserts Native Americans.
Looking at Commuck’s Indian Melodies in comparison with a few others written from around the same time, to more modern collections, one is able to see what exactly makes Commuck’s book so important in the history of written music publications. In 1907, the first copy of The Indians’ Book was published. Written by Natalie Curtis, The Indians’ Book is a collection of songs, stories, and art by Native Americans. Many of the songs are written in the tribe’s original language-some with translations underneath. The focus of the collected songs has less to do with religion and context, and more to do with Curtis's own enjoyment in collecting songs from Native American people: “The unstudied song of primitive man is as soulful in its purpose as developed art, but its simple expression of far simpler things” (xxvi). This statement displays how, while Curtis sees the importance of preserving Native American songs, they were not considered equal to other “developed art” of her time.
In contrast to Curtis’s view, over 50 years prior Commuck wrote and published a collection of Native American songs and asserted himself as a man of purpose and intellect. This author appears as an individual who could hold his own in a white world. Curtis makes remarks such as, “Let us pause in the stress of our modern life to listen to the ancient lore of our own land” (xxix). In Indian Melodies, Commuck’s language is eloquent and displays how vocally aware and active Commuck is in the modern world; while The Indians’ Book, highlights creative expression, it does so without the assertion of equality. Curtis’s book is beneficial because it brings to light the talent and beauty of Native American artistic expression via songs and stories, but is still filtered through the eyes of a culture who still see Native Americans as being a race needing to catch up to modernity.
Music in America: An Anthology from the Landing of the Pilgrims to the Close of the Civil War. 1620-1865 was published in 1964 by W.W. Norton & Company. It is a collection of songs, and their histories in America. The first three chapters consist of “Psalmody in New England,” “First Instruction Books and Singing Schools,” and “Music of the Ephrata Cloister and the Moravians,” but the latter half of the book pertains to Commuck’s time. Chapter four is entitled “Native American Composers” yet not one of the composers listed is an actual Native American. Instead, they are men, at least second generation, of Europeans who happened to be physically born in America. Commuck and these American born composers have similarly named their songs based on people, places, and events. They also both write of religious experience and hope, but their differences lay in their context. Francis Hopkinson wrote the song, A Toast, in order to show respect for “George Washington, emerging as the military and political leader of our new nation” (Gleason, et al 97). All of the composers in Music in America write their songs based on the white man’s experience in their “new nation.”
Commuck makes the point that, “As the tunes in this book are the work of an Indian…the tunes therefore will be found to assume the names of noted Indian chiefs, Indian females, Indian names of places, &c. This has been done merely as a tribute of respect to the memory of some tribes that are now nearly if not quite extinct; also as a mark of courtesy to some tribes with whom the author is acquainted” (vi). Both the English-American born composers and Commuck write songs of hope, respect, and historical and religious significance, but men such as Hopkinson are celebrating their “new nation” while Commuck’s hymns are holding onto the existence of one that’s being threatened.
Collections of English-American music as well as Native American music have been written and published by white men and women from before Commuck’s time to today, but Indian Melodies has been a continual oversight. Commuck’s collection, authored by a Native American regarding Native Americans, asserted himself in a world dominated by English psalmody. In the midst of oppression and after years of colonization and Christianization, Commuck’s book displays how the oral tradition of songs and hymns asserts Native Americans as academic, creative and religious equals.
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Brucker, Rosie.
All About your Biz.4569 North 105th Street Wauwatosa, Wisconsin 53225
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