Maine Memory Network

Jennifer Sapiel Neptune, a member of the Penobscot Indian Nation and renowned basketmaker, taught herself to bead after studying designs on historic Wabanaki artwork in museum collections that inspired her artwork.

Historic pieces often include three leaf botanical references, which were intended for healing. The plant on this bag depicts a water lily.

Neptune talked about her inspirations, saying, “Sometimes I imagine these old beadworkers’ spirits hovering around while I work, guiding my hands and whispering, ‘do it this way,’ and ‘put that design over there.’ A lot of our traditions have slipped away or have totally been lost. But I really believe that it’s all still out there for us–if we just ask respectfully and then know how to listen.”

Wabanaki beadwork designs, especially those with three leaf floral motifs, often represent medicinal plants.

People kept small pouches close to their body—in a pocket or worn as a necklace, and sometimes filled with herbs—to promote healing. While some designs are obvious, like a curled-up fiddlehead or a blueberry, others are more abstract.

Deerskin moccasins feature wide side cuffs of appliqué cut silk ribbon designs. Attributed to a Penobscot Nation artist, the moccasins feature a geometric cloth and white beaded pattern. Inscribed on the inside of the left shoe :moccasins: G. Robie / May 9, 1834 / P.F.G. Robie" and on the inside of the right shoe, "Feby 4th G left for Bangor."

Access to manufactured materials like woven cloth and glass beads saved time from processing skins, stones, and shells, traditionally used for adornment. The introduction of brightly colored silk ribbons and standard sized glass beads led to a flourishing of innovation in Wabanaki adornment. Red and blue wool associated with yearly annuities from the governments of Massachusetts and Maine to the sovereign Penobscot Nation fulfilled yearly treaty agreements, called "trade cloth" are featured on these moccasins.

Beadwork designs, especially those with three leaf floral motifs, often represent medicinal plants.

People kept small pouches close to their body—in a pocket or worn as a necklace, and sometimes filled with herbs—to promote healing. While some designs are obvious, like a curled-up fiddlehead or a blueberry, others are more abstract.

The pieces of red and navy-black broadcloth used in these Penobscot moccasins are "annuity cloth," issued twice a year to each family as part of payment of interest on money owed by the State of Maine for Indian lands.

Indians throughout the Northeast copied beading styles and traded objects, making it difficult to attribute beadwork to specific tribes.

The purse may have been made by a member of the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Micmac, or Maliseet tribes, which are collectively referred to as Wabanaki.

This beaded purse was probably made by someone of the Mi'kmaq tribe in the late nineteenth century.

Beaded purses made on wool with silk ribbon and glass beads were made by many Native American artisans to sell to non-Native tourists as a souvenir of their visit to places like Bar Harbor and Niagara Falls.

Frances Soctomah (Passamaquoddy) apprenticed with Penobscot artist, Jennifer Sapiel Neptune, learning the art of beadworking.

An accomplished ash basketmaker, Soctomah's beadwork is inspired by the natural world, plants in particular. This pouch features blooms and leaves of wild strawberry plants.

Aaron Evans apprenticed with Charlene Francis, a Penobscot artist, to learn traditional decorative techniques. His work draws on earlier hidework and quillwork techniques.

Penobscot men wore cuffs and cape collars for special occasions. These cuffs feature medicinal and other plant motifs.

The collars and cuffs are derived from the decorated great coats that Penobscots wore in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

This Penobscot cape collar features medicinal and other plant motifs and reflects design traditions that spread through the Northeast in the latter half of the nineteenth century.

Penobscot men wore cape collars and cuffs for dances, ceremonies, inaugurations of governors and chiefs, and other special occasions.

These items are derived from the decorated great coats worn by Penobscots in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

The earliest collars were ornamented with ribbon work and white seed beads laid out in double curve motifs, typical of the Penobscots.