Distinctly Dutch - New York State Museum

For Further Reading:
Writings by or About
the Benedicts (continued)
_____. 1999. “Mother Earth.” In
The Words that Come before All
Else: Environmental Philosophies
of the Haudenosaunee.
Haudenosaunee Environmental
Task Force.
_____. 1997. “The Serpent
Story.” In Reinventing the
Enemy’s Language: Contemporary
Native Women’s Writing of North
America, Joy Harjo and Gloria
Bird, eds., p. 311–314. New York:
W. W. Norton & Co.
Hauptman, Laurence M. 2008.
“Where the Partridge Drums: Ernest
Benedict, Mohawk Intellectual as
Activist.” In Seven Generations
of Iroquois Leadership: The Six
Nations Since 1800. Syracuse:
Syracuse University Press.
Johansen, Bruce. 2007.
Grandfathers of Akwesasne
Mohawk Revitalization: Ray Fadden
and Ernest Benedict. In The Praeger
Handbook on Contemporary
Issues in Native America, p. 209–
219. Praeger Publishers.
over an essay by Sue Ellen Herne,
Mohawk author, artist, and
curator, I find another quotation
by Salli (in Herne and Williamson
2008:7) that connects this
Striped Gourd basket’s material
and symbolic essence back to
the first story and name in
Florence’s inspired Globe Basket
series. She explains, “In
Rotinonshonni [Mohawk for
Haudenosaunee] culture, sweetgrass
is the ‘Hair of Mother
Earth.’ Its sweet fragrance is
appealing and endears us to
her. We know that we are not
disconnected from our Mother
Earth when we can smell her
sweet hair.”
On Making Mohawk Art
and Community
There is yet deeper meaning
and purpose to consider in
understanding the Museum’s
Globe Basket. This is the role
of creation and continuation
of Mohawk social community,
in this case, glimpsed through
Mohawk basket making and its
embeddedness and interconnectedness
within the larger,
collective cultural frames of
Mohawk society.
Taking us further, in speaking
of distinctions between understandings
of meaning and
purpose of art/craft and
aesthetics in Western and
Native American societies, the
distinguished Tuscarora and
Haudenosaunee artist, museum
director and curator, author,
educator, and activist Richard
W. Hill, Sr. (2002:10) explains:
“From birth, the Native
child is immersed in a
circle of tradition and
surrounded with objects
of belief, power, and
identity … The sacredness
of life, the interconnectedness
of community,
and the preciousness of
knowledge are expressed
through art. Images of
power, of spiritual beings,
and of personal dreams
and visions become the
legacy of the first artists
of this land … Taking
the time to craft objects,
to decorate them to feel
connected to a community
aesthetic are all part of
the creative process.
However, the act of creating
is also an act of faith
in your individual and group
identity that connects you
to your ancestors, as well
as to future generations.
Art is the linking of the
past, present, and future
and is thus the reason for
making objects as much
as it is the object itself.”
To appreciate the deepest
meanings of the Museum’s
Globe Basket for its makers
ultimately is to understand it
as part of ongoing Mohawk
society— to see it as one
microscopic element in the
making, renewal, and remaking
of Mohawk art/craft, community,
culture, and history through
generations. Here the intertwined
words of two generations direct
us (S. Benedict 2008a:11):
“It’s an old question
that people have asked
Akwesasronon [Mohawk
people of Akwesasne],
and that is, “What does
the art form of Akwesasne
basket making mean to
its people?” One answer
that was provided by an
Akwesasne elder is that
“it brings us together”…
“
To appreciate the
deepest meanings
of the Museum’s
Globe Basket for its
makers ultimately
is to understand it
as part of ongoing
Mohawk society.
”
When we gather to make
baskets, we speak our language,
share our culture,
tell stories of the past,
and share ideas for the
future … Basket making
may seem like a simple art
form to some people, but
it ensures our continued
engagement with the land
and our environment, and
that connection is the foundation
of our culture.”
NOTE: I thank the Benedict
family for graciously sharing
home, time, knowledge, and
memories with me. Salli gladly
and unfailingly provided comments,
corrections, and translations,
which I hope I have used appropriately.
Thanks also to Sue Ellen
Herne, Dr. Laurence Hauptman,
and Dr. Charles Orser for other
assistance. The quotation by Rick
Hill is from his preface to Uncommon
Legacies: Native American Art
from the Peabody Essex Museum
(Grimes et al. 2002:10), and the
quotation from the Herne and
Williamson article can be found
in the Mundell (2008) edited
volume, cited in the “For Further
Reading” sidebar on page 15. n
16 n Legacy