Small and sweet, this beautifully made basket is much like its namesake fruit with curlicue weaves mimicking seeded strawberry skin. Wabanaki women, and some men, have made decorative and compact fancy baskets to sell to tourists since the 19th century, often in summer during strawberry season in Maine. Wabanaki is a collective term for Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Abenaki, Maliseet, and Micmac peoples, dating back to their political alliance in the 17th century. Today, deep connections remain between these communities. This lidded basket, possibly made by National Heritage Fellow Clara Neptune Keezer, could have held jewelry or small items. It reminds us that the region’s original peoples still live and create there today.

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