WABANAKI STYLE BEADED COLLAR

“THE STRENGTH OF THE NATION LIES WITH THE WOMEN”

This style of collar with scalloped edges is my own design, but the overall shape and style of the collar is similar to old Wabanaki  (Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Penobscot and Abenaki) style collars. This collar lays across the shoulders in the same manner as a shawl.

On the left front in white beads it reads “the strength”, on the right in white beads it reads “of the nation” and on the back it reads “lies with the Women”.  I was inspired to bead this piece in this way as our old beadwork would sometimes contain messages in symbols.  This message is in script surrounded by raised beadwork flowers, vines and leaves.

This collar was made with red wool, lined with cotton fabric and trimmed with red cotton hem tape. Light blue satin “rattail” ties.

Czech and/or Japanese best quality glass seed beads, some vintage beads, bugle beads, small glass flower beads. Nymo and cotton thread.

The raised beadwork flowers were beaded with transparent iridescent clear beads. Leaves were done in shimmering gold beads and shiny dark brown. The loops along the edge were done with vintage mottled blue and clear beads. Years ago such loops were done to look like Victorian lace.

Other bead colors are white, beige, turquoise, light and dark blue, lime green, transparent green, silver lined green, copper, silver lined brown. Bugle bead colors clear, gold, green, black, blue, silver and copper.  Glass rhinestones in red and dark blue.

Beading techniques are “raised beadwork”, spot stitch, applique stitch/return stitch. Paper patterns were used under the raised flowers and vines.

Notice my beaded signature on the right back shoulder, a mark to represent my helper the squirrel. 

Mad River Valley Arts

Mad River Valley Arts presents “Beyond the Curve,” art reflecting the Abenaki COVID experience, through Jan. 6,2024, at 5031 Main St. in Waitsfield. Hours are 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; call 802-496-6682 or go online to www.madrivervalleyarts.org

https://www.timesargus.com/features/vermont_arts/beyond-the-curve-abenaki-artists-reflect-on-their-covid-experience/article_a546facb-5fc7-504c-af3f-1a9d29f966ba.html

Traditionally how would we as Abenaki people have responded to an outbreak of illness within our community?

We well know and remember the sorrows of our ancestors who were decimated by disease when the Europeans arrived. With no natural immunity to diseases such as smallpox, it became apparent that we needed to isolate and distance ourselves from the carriers.  It meant we had to stop accepting the “gifts” of smallpox infected blankets and become wary of those praying for our destruction.

We had to depend upon each other.  We depended upon the healers in our community.  We reached out to the ones who were the dreamers, for the dreams carried messages to us.

The healers were often Women of Bear and Turtle clan.  Such esteemed Women were not only proficient in the physical art of healing through the use of plants and herbs, but had the gift of second sight. Their dreams could hold portent of a cure or warnings of what to avoid.  Combined with ancestral knowledge, such a Woman was sought out by those suffering within the community.

Such a Woman, was Grandmother Doris Minckler (1926-1997), also known as Grandmother Mourning Dove. For many years, her door was always open to those in need of physical and spiritual healing. She also had the ability to see someone’s soul and share with them their spirit name. This is the name with which we introduce ourselves to the One Who Comes to Us. It is a comfort and a source of strength to know one’s true name. 

Unlike allopathic medicine, where an office visit is limited to minutes, a pill is given and the patient goes home, the medicinal care provided by someone such as Grandmother Doris encompasses the mental, spiritual and the physical. The tea is made with prayer and love.  The herbs and plants were harvested with thanks and love. This changes the nature of the tea, the plant, to something otherworldly, something sacred. This is where the deep healing begins. All healers know this and humbly accept that they are but a hollow reed. We give great thanks to all such healers and the late Grandmother Doris.

Rhonda Besaw

11/30/22

We Are Still Here: Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast

Awikhigan:Evoking Indigenous Stories and Landscapes

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, Vt.

September 2018 through October 2018

Horatio Colony Museum, Keene, NH