On June 26 a new exhibit, North by Northeast: Akwesasne Mohawk, Tuscarora and Wabanacki Traditional Arts, will open in the Mashantucket Gallery.  The work of twenty-five contemporary artists, living primarily in Maine and New York, will be displayed as a means to explore the artists’ connection to place, tradition and cultural identity.  Visitors will be able to examine beautiful examples of basketry, beadwork and woodcarving.

Featured below are three collections from the Archives that include personal histories and designs used by Mashantucket Pequot basketmakers.

MSS 1.  Letters, 1926-1927.

The collection consists of three letters written by Mashantucket Pequot tribal member Martha Hoxie Langevin to her daughter Alice Edna Brend. The letters include information about the illness that led to Martha’s death and the medical treatment that she received. They also include information about collecting materials for basket making, her methods for making baskets and political issues facing the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.

MSS 29.  Interviews, 1991-1995.

This collection consists of interviews and related materials documenting Native artists in Connecticut. It includes excerpts of a 1994 interview with Alice Brend (1905-1996), daughter of Martha Hoxie Langevin, in which she discusses Pequot basketmaking.  The collection also includes a booklet titled "Living Legends" featuring a number of different Native and non-Native artists in Connecticut (including Alice Brend), as well as a pamphlet on Schaghticoke basketmaking.

MSS 35.  Design drawings, ca. 1991-1994.

In the early 1990s, Tara Prindle was commissioned by the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center to research and record the designs of Pequot baskets. She found baskets held by private individuals and institutions and created watercolor design drawings of the baskets. On the back of each design is the town where the original basket can be found.