Birch bark box by Mali Agat, ca. 1770

Contributed by Maine Historical Society

Description

Mali Agat (Pigwacket Abenaki), also known as Molly Ockett (circa 1740-1816), was a Wabanaki “doctress” from the Pigwacket homeland, who was widely known among Native people and settlers in northern New England and southern Quebec.

She was part of a large and interrelated network of families who inhabited and traveled in the north country of Wabanaki homelands—now parts of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Canada. She maintained traditional Wabanaki ways, practicing Indigenous herbal medicine, cultivating traditional ecological knowledge, and weaving with traditional fibers.

Agat created this birch bark box which came into the possession of Mrs. John Kimball of Bethel. Despite the label attached to this box stating that Mali Agat was, “the last of the Anasagunticooks on the Androscoggin,” Abenaki descendants continue to live in their traditional homelands in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Canada.

Mali Agat lived a long life; some claimed she lived over one hundred years.

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About This Item

  • Title: Birch bark box by Mali Agat, ca. 1770
  • Creator: Mali Agat
  • Creation Date: circa 1770
  • Subject Date: circa 1770
  • Locations:
    • Oxford County, ME
    • Kennebec County, ME
  • Media: Birchbark
  • Local Code: 611*
  • Object Type: Physical Object

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For more information about this item, contact:

Maine Historical Society
485 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101
(207) 774-1822 x230
Website

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