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Accession Number
2018.13.31
While the Wabanaki have been weaving baskets since time immemorial, when they were forced off their land under European colonization basket-making became a means of economic independence and resistance to assimilation. Since the nineteenth century, Wabanaki artists innovated traditional utilitarian forms to meet collectors’ tastes, leading to a new style of basketmaking—fancy baskets.
This fancy Micmac basket features multiple jutting cone designs that distinguish this beautiful external pattern. The lid’s top is made from braided sweetgrass and forms a decorative bow which contrasts the basket’s barbed points spouting from its top to bottom.
- From the exhibition Innovation and Resilience Across Three Generations of Wabanaki Basket-Making (February 1–May 1, 2022), curated by members of the Native American Student Association—Amanda Cassano ’22, Sunshine Eaton ’22, and Shandiin Largo ’23.
Additional Media
digital inventory image/reproduction
overall, alternate view
digital inventory image/reproduction
overall, alternate view
digital inventory image/reproduction
overall, alternate view
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