Mastodawn

Another #Nihkaniyane Honoree, #EmmaSoctomah, is the daughter of Elizabeth Neptune and #DonaldSoctomah -- Donald being another person I learned a lot from when I was covering the #MaineRivers conference! Emma is also the grandchild of renowned #Passamaquoddy #Basketmaker #MollyNeptuneParker.

"Emma Soctomah is a Passamaquoddy citizen of #Motahkomikuk and was the 2025 class valedictorian at University of Maine Machias,where she majored in psychology and community studies. She was an active participant in the college’s Kinap Mentorship Program, which creates both on- and off-campus programs aimed at bringing together #Wabanaki cultural values and Indigenous ways of knowing with Western education. She plans to continue working at the elementary school in Motahkomikuk and will pursue a master’s degree beginning in fall 2026. Soctomah is the daughter of Donald Soctomah and Elizabeth Neptune and the granddaughter of world renowned basketmaker Molly Neptune Parker. Soctomah is also a nationally recognized basketmaker and was among the first artists to receive an #AbbeMuseum Wabanaki #Artist Fellowship."

Learn more about Emma:
https://www.wabanakialliance.com/nihkaniyane2025-emmasoctomah/

#CulturalPreservation #PreservingHistory #IndigenousLanguage #IndigenousHistory #TraditionalArts #NativeAmericanArtists #valedictorian

DoomsdaysCW Jun 9

The final #APCAW presentation is Thursday, July 12th. #Penobscot #basketmaker and founding director of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance, #TheresaSecord will be the guest speaker.

APCAW was kind enough to provide me with a link to last week's video and a PDF guide from the conference. I will be looking through the guide and will post about some of the key points at a later date.

Even though the conference is free, pre-registration is required.

To register:
https://maineaudubon.org/events/everything-ash-webinar-series-june12/

Link to June 5th presentation video (including the bit I missed with #RichardSilliboy):
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/n63rnkAomz4AitHdAfBRC1hbSMCS2fuFUrQ7HU2UfP5gmrJiXoLREHE5UePF9EWU.TQktDNJCVGQMJjfu

#EmeraldAshBorer #AshTrees #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge #NativeAmericanBasketry #Sustainability #IndigenousStewardship #CulturalPreservation #InvasiveSpecies #EAG #PreservingNature #Biodiversity #TEK #TIK #TraditionalIndigenousKnowledge #Basketry #PreservingTheSacred #PreservingTheForest #WabanakiConfederacy
#Wabanakik #WabanakiAlliance #MaineFirstNations #MaineWoods #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledgeStewards

DoomsdaysCW Jun 8

So, I attended a Zoom conference on saving #Maine's #AshTrees from the #EmeraldAshBorer. Unfortunately, I missed the presentation by #RichardSilliboy (who got knocked out of the meeting by a thunderstorm), but I did find this film with him in it!

They Carry Us With Them: Richard Silliboy

by Jeremy Seifert

"This film, part of our feature multimedia story 'They Carry Us With Them: The Great Tree Migration', profiles Richard Silliboy, a tribal elder and vice chief of the #AroostookBand of #Mikmaqs, and a #BlackAsh #basketmaker. As he weaves a potato basket at his home in Littleton, Maine, Richard contemplates the arrival of the emerald ash borer and the tenuous future of this ancient art."

https://emergencemagazine.org/film/richard-silliboy/

#SolarPunkSunday #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge #NativeAmericanBasketry #Sustainability #IndigenousStewardship #CulturalPreservation #InvasiveSpecies #EAG #PreservingNature #Biodiversity #TEK #TIK #TraditionalIndigenousKnowledge s #Basketry #PreservingTheSacred #PreservingTheForest #WabanakiConfederacy
#Wabanakik #WabanakiAlliance #MaineFirstNations #MaineWoods #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledgeSteward

They Carry Us With Them: Richard Silliboy – Jeremy Seifert

This film profiles Mi’kmaq tribal elder Richard Silliboy, a black ash basketmaker. As he weaves a potato basket, Richard contemplates the arrival of the emerald ash borer and the tenuous future of this ancient art.

Emergence Magazine