Connecting Communities with Collections: Indigenous Stewardship of Wabanaki Basketry to Create a Lexicon for Cataloging

FAIN: PR-295844-24

University of Maine, Orono (Orono, ME 04473-1513)
Gretchen Faulkner (Project Director: May 2023 to present)

A Tier I project to create a digital lexicon of Wabanaki basketry to be used as a model for other institutions and collections of Wabanaki material culture.

Project goals are to create a lexicon to describe the many basket types that were made by Wabanaki basketmakers and establish standard terminology for styles or forms of baskets as well as decorative elements, weaving materials, and family design hallmarks. The project will draw on holdings at the Hudson Museum and the Penobscot Nation Museum, two of the most extensive institutional collections in the U.S. Terminology will be generated by Wabanaki basketmakers, and the resulting lexicon will be available as a digital open-source resource. This two-year project will serve as a proof-of-concept for standardized, community-based language to support future TK label projects, will advance historical and cultural knowledge and will expand cultural competencies among future audiences. It addresses the NEH’s special interest areas focused on protecting imperiled cultural heritage, serving under-represented communities, and responding to climate change.