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Alan Syliboy is a major Mi’kmaq artist.

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James Eric Francis Sr., an artist from Indian Island, is showing an untitled acrylic painting at the Colby College Museum of Art.

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This video is not of a Wabanaki dancer but this shows the "smoke dance" and dance that was a part of Wabanaki culture as well!

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Dancing serves a significant role in many Native American cultures. As with cultures across the world, dances are commonly performed during religious rituals and other ceremonies. These dances, which are held to guarantee the success of hunts and harvest, give thanks to the land, and more, could be jovial, solemn, or anything in between. There are dances that are performed for fun, and others that signal the beginning of an attack, or war. There are many tribes, confederacies, and Native cultures.

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Jeremy Frey (Passamaquoddy), Red and Black Ash and Sweetgrass Basket.

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Beaded bags made in 1870 by members of the Maliseet tribe

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A beaded bracelet made in 1860 by a member of the Maliseet tribe

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This is a flute. These instruments were made from different materials, including reeds, clay, wood and bone.

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N'we Jinan Artists - "SKICIN IN YOU" // Indian Island Penobscot Nation

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WE, THE INDIANS

You came across the water,
In a very large canoe.
You say to us, can we land?
We moved over, so you could have room.

To you we sold "so" much land,
We sign this thing called paper.
You tell us exactly what it means,
But it means different, a little later.

We move where you dare not explore,
But traders came and killed our Friends,
You killed them for trophy and fun
and also us, your fellowmen.

And none you are a country.
A proud and noble thing.
You rejoice, for your good fortune,
The deathsong is all that we can sing.

You steal our land without a word,
and none some of us rebel.
You shoot us with your firesticks,
Then we move, and all is well.

We fought for our land and our life.
Battles were lost and won.
They weren't Indian victories,
Only massacres when you turned to run.

You are now a great nation.
You stretch from East to West.
Yet we fought back fiercely
Our greatest chiefs are now at rest.

You stole our lovely wildlife.
Many will never roam or fly.
You polluted our lakes, and our streams.
You stole the blue from the sky.

Now all of our land is gone.
And of us there are few.
None you think that you have won.
No, you are wrong, you have lost too.

Written by Patti Fitzgerald, age 12, of the Penobscot tribe.

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Baskets are an inseparable part of the culture and traditions of the Wabanaki tribes who believe that basket making is a skill that has been passed from weaver to weaver, generation to generation, uninterrupted for thousands of years. Wabanaki baskets are made from splints of the brown ash tree. Known as the "basket tree," the brown ash is considered sacred to many of the Native peoples of the northeastern United States and Canada.

For Wabanaki basket artists, weaving is a spiritual process. Many artists collect their own materials from the natural world, cutting down the ash tree and then preparing the wood for weaving. There are several steps involved in the preparation. The tree is first cut into sections and the bark is removed. The basket maker then pounds the end of the logs to split the wood along the tree rings. Each ring is then sliced into long, thin strips or splints of various thicknesses. Once the splints are soaked and sanded they can be woven into a basket. Artists also collect sweetgrass, a local grass with a sweet aroma. It is most often used in a braided form. Some weavers can braid so quickly that the movement of their fingers is barely visible. As they braid, the grass makes a sound known as "singing." The artistry in these baskets is in the weaving, and many types of weaves are passed from generation to generation, specific to individual families. The shapes of the baskets vary with fashion and the market, but the weaves are often inspired by tradition and the past.

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This is a Fancy porcupine-weave basket made by a member of the Penobscot tribe in 1862