Molly Neptune Parker - Native American Basketmaker

Participants in the Maine Arts Commission’s ArtME event at the Eastport Arts Center in Eastport on Wednesday, August 6th will be treated to a demonstration by one of Maine’s premier Native American basketmakers. Molly Neptune Parker will demonstrate basketmaking as part of the presentation on traditional arts programs at the Maine Arts Commission.

Parker, who makes colorful fancy baskets in the Passamaquoddy tradition, is the recipient of numerous awards for her basketmaking expertise. Most recently she was honored by the First People’s Fund as one of four Native American Artists to receive the Community Spirit Award nationwide. Parker is also the current recipient of the Maine Arts Commission’s Traditional Arts Fellowship, and received a grant award this year from the Fund for Folk Culture. She has served as the President of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance since 2005

Parker began making baskets when she was five or six years old, using the scraps that fell on the floor while her mother was working. She learned to make not only the fancy baskets, but creel baskets, pack baskets and laundry baskets as well. As a young mother she made baskets while her children swam at the beach. The baskets were always important to the Passamaquoddy, because they provided food , clothing, and most of what they needed to support their families, “I was always told by my mother if you can make baskets, you will never go hungry,”

Parker says the baskets remind her of the people she knew when she was growing up, going from house to house, learning to make baskets from others in the community. She currently mentors younger basketmakers, including well-known basketmaker Jeremy Frey, who demonstrated basketmaking during the 2006 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Parker has used the proceeds of her Traditional Arts Fellowship and other awards to renovate a studio in Indian Township, where she can teach, demonstrate, and create baskets. Parker will be demonstrating between 4:00 and 5:00pm at the Eastport Arts Center in Eastport on August 6.