Artist Spotlight
Akwesasrónon Ronta’therón:ni
The Basketmakers of Akwesasne
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Athere’shon:ah akwe:kon Sonkwaia’tison tho’tkawen. Onkweshon:ah she:kon ne rotiio’te ahonwaterihonion. The Creator gave us all that goes into basketry. Our people are still using it and teaching it.
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Vicky Phillips
Mohawk/Wolf Clan
Vicky learned basketmaking from her mother-in-law, Agnes Phillips, and master basketmaker Mary Adams. Known for her creativity and brilliant use of colors, Vicky makes many traditional baskets such as strawberry baskets, but also likes to experiment with different shapes. Recently she developed a popular Christmas tree-shaped basket.
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Annabelle Oakes (Iawenhakie)
Mohawk/Wolf Clan
Annabelle remembers staying in to help her grandmother to make baskets instead of going out to play. “I just stuck with it,” she explains. Her handsome baskets include strawberry baskets, knitting baskets, and melon baskets. Like many other basketmakers in Akwesasne, Annabelle also is an accomplished quilter.
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Robin Lazore
Mohawk
Robin Lazore began weaving baskets in her teens. The late Mary Jocko and the late Irene McDonald are two teachers whom she most fondly remembers. “It feels good to have baskets in your home. It wouldn’t even feel like home without them,” says Robin. “They are more than just baskets. They are like healing medicine; they give me strength. There is a power witin them that comes from the earth and the weavers who make them.”
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Brenda LaFrance (Tsioniaeon)
Mohawk
Brenda LaFrance’s grandmother, Nancy Conners Lazore, was a master basketmaker. As an adult, Brenda began making baskets in the early 1990’s from master basketmaker, Henry Arquette. In the mid-90’s she participated in an apprenticeship with a master of fancy-basketmaking, the late Mary Leaf. She has also participated in classes with Linda Jackson. Basketry reinforces Brenda’s connection to culture and family. She is also striving to become a fluent Mohawk speaker.
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Denise Jock
Mohawk/Turtle Clan
Denise grew up around baskets. Her mother, Sarah Thompson, only recently had to stop making baskets due to ill health. Over the years, Sarah taught Denise many skills, including how to pick, prepare and braid sweetgrass. Denise specializes in miniature baskets. Her two-inch strawberry baskets and thistle baskets are among the most delicate baskets to be found in Akwesasne.
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Linda Jackson (Kwanaratawe)
Mohawk/Wolf Clan
Linda Jackson comes from a family of basketmakers. Her aunts, Charlotte Delormier and Mary Leaf, were especially accomplished fancy basket makers. When Linda was six years of age, her mother taught her to weave and string lacrosse sticks. Later, as an adult, Linda learned basketmaking from her sister-in-law, the late Mae Bigtree. Linda now teaches, making sure that the tradition continues. She makes a range of berry baskets and specializes in the “popcorn style” weave.
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Barbara Gray (Kanatiiosh)
Mohawk/Wolf Clan
Barbara remembers visits to Akwesasne while she was growing up, sitting at the feet of her grandmother and her aunt with “the smell of sweetgrass in the air, the Kanienkehaka language being spoken, and their hands skillfully weaving basket lids and bottoms.”
After moving to Akwesasne as an adult, Barbara began to learn to make baskets herself, partly through taking classes at the Akwesasne Museum.
In 2005, she won first place at the New York State Fair for one of her corn baskets.
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Mother and Son Basketmakers: Lenora David (Waben) and Richard David (Tehawennek)
Micmac/Eel Clan
Lenora was born in New Brunswick, Canada. Her father and mother both made baskets. When Lenora was a young girl, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police took her father away and he was never seen again. Lenora’s mother was forced to make a new life, and Lenora was sent to Cornwall, Ontario to be raised in an orphanage. She married a Mohawk man from nearby Akwesasne and raised her 13 children here. Lenora’s specialty is miniature baskets. The baskets by Lenora that are shown here can fit in your hand. Her son, Richard, makes full size baskets including hampers, pack baskets, and wedding baskets. Richard is deeply interested in the conservation of the black ash tree, the source of our basketmaking splints. He and Les Benedict co-authored Handbook for Black Ash Preservation, Reforestation/Regeneration.
Lenora’s mini - baskets 
& 
Richard’s baskets.
& Richard’s baskets. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Florence David (Kaheriiostha)
Mohawk/Wolf Clan
Florence grew up with basketmakers “all around her”. She learned from her mother, Eva Point, and her aunt, Mary Adams. Eva’s mother and grandmother were also talented basketmakers. Carrying on the family tradition, Florence David specializes in a range of fancy baskets including sewing baskets, strawberry baskets and button baskets.
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Debbie Cook-Jacobs (Kanerahtiiohsta)
Mohawk/Bear Clan
Debbie has been making baskets for the past twenty years. To her, a basket represents the past, present, and future and keeps her connected to the earth by finding, preparing and using natural materials. She credits Salli Benedict and the Akwesasne Museum, where she was taught by local basketmakers, for instilling an appreciation of basketmaking.
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Delia Cook (Karihwaienhne)
Mohawk/Turtle Clan
Karihwaienhne remembers helping her mother with “starters” - thimble cases, sewing kits, scissor cases and pincushions - when she was only eight years old. Over the years she has learned from Sarah Lazore, Mary Adams, Mary Leaf and Mae Bigtree, and now she is a dedicated teacher also. Her motto is: “Whatever you start, you have to finish.”
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Judy Hemlock Cole (Sateioianere)
Mohawk / Bear Clan
Judy has “always been in baskets”. She remembers going to “basket bees” with her grandmother and watching women make baskets and share work. Judy makes baby hampers, button, and sewing baskets. She is also a talented quilter.
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Florence Benedict
Mohawk / Wolf Clan
Florence is part of a long line of gifted Akwesasne Mohawk basketmakers that includes her grandmother, Kaiatehente; her mother, Kahentineshen; and her aunt, Kiohontasen. A dedicated teacher, she has also passed on the tradition to her children and grandchildren.
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Henry Arquette
Mohawk / Snipe Clan
Henry remembers that when he was growing up in Akwesasne the sound of men pounding logs to make splint for baskets could be heard from miles around. He grew up to become a renowned basketmaker specializing in finely made utility baskets including pack, laundry, picnic, wedding, and corn washing baskets.
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Theresa Angus
Mohawk / Snipe Clan
Theresa Angus loves making baskets, “I could do it all day.” When she was growing up, she would help her mother, Josephine Angus, split and scrape the pliable black ash into thin strips for weaving. Today, she is an accomplished basketmaker, making a range of beautiful fancy baskets.
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The Akwesasne Museum worked with Kathleen Mundell, Cultural Resources, Inc. and Ellen McHale of the New York Folklore Society to provide promotional materials to Akwesasne’s basketmakers. The museum received funding from the New York State Council on the Arts to supplement the funding that Ellen and Kathleen were able to secure.
We will show one card each month, in alphabetical order, over the next year and a half. This is still only a representative sampling of the basketmakers of Akwesasne. There are many other fine basketmakers in our community.
