Wabanaki Creation Cuff to be featured at Basketmakers Holiday Market

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

November 27, 2017 Museums, Northeastern Americas: Humanities Research and Education, Outreach

The 23rd annual Maine Indian Basketmakers Holiday Market will be held Saturday, Dec. 9, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Collins Center for the Arts at the University of Maine.

Award-winning members of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance — which focuses on preserving the ancient art of brown ash and sweetgrass basketry and passing on the tradition to future generations — will sell baskets at the free event.

Tradition bearers and new artists representing the next generation of weavers will be at the showcase event, as will birchbark artists, carvers and beadworkers. All will have items for sale.

In addition to the one-of-a-kind artforms, there will be demonstrations, storytelling, traditional music, dancing and drumming during the day.

Attendees are invited to purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win an exquisite piece of jewelry from Decontie & Brown. Jason Brown and Donna Decontie-Brown are married jewelry designers who draw inspiration from their Penobscot tribal heritage.

Basket Their Creation Cuff — made from brown ash and .935 argentium silver — is based on the Wabanaki creation story. When the culture hero Glooskap (Gluskap, Gluskabe, Glooscap) shot an arrow into the heart of a basket tree, Wabanaki men and women emerged from the split tree. The tree and the people are interwoven.

Raffle tickets are $5 each and may be purchased at the event and by calling 207.581.1904; proceeds support the holiday market.

The schedule is as follows:

10 a.m. — Welcome ceremony
10:30 a.m. — Traditional Penobscot songs with Kelly Demmons, Penobscot
11 a.m. — Brown ash-pounding demonstration with Eldon Hanning, Micmac
11:30 a.m. — Children’s dreamcatcher workshop with Lisa Tompkins, Passamaquoddy, in Hudson Museum’s Maine Indian Gallery
Noon — Basket demonstration with Gabriel Frey, Passamaquoddy
12:30 p.m. — Drumming and singing with Chris Sockalexis, Penobscot
1 p.m. — Birchbark demonstration with Barry Dana, Penobscot
2 p.m. — Burnurwurbskek Singers
3 p.m. — Hudson Museum Friends raffle drawing for the argentium silver and brown ash Wabanaki Creation Cuff by Decontie & Brown

For more information, call 207.581.1904. To request a disability accommodation, call 207.581.1226.

Contact: Beth Staples, 207.581.3777