Abenaki Sweetgrass Masks
Click on the above picture for a larger view.
| This mask is a one-of-a-kind museum
piece that I purchased at the Abenaki reservation in Odanak, Quebec in
July 2005 from Marguerite Panadis, who is liquidating her store as a
result of an illness that set in around 2000. It was made by
Marijean Gill about sixty to sixty-five years ago (circa 1940). It
hung in Ms. Panadis's store on the reservation for the past 30
years.
The mask was old when Marijean Gill gave it to Ms. Panadis. It is called "La masque de bon danse." The mask of the good dance. It is a good luck mask. Marguerite claims that it brought her good luck over the years at her store. It is now hanging in my home in Toronto. The mask is made using sweetgrass, ash splint, corn husk for the hair, and corn silk for the eye brows. The mask is in excellent condition.
To the best of Marguerite's knowledge, there is only one other mask extant--at the museum in Odanak. This is a true collector's piece. Madame Gill showed about 10 people on the reservation how to make this mask, including her own daughter. None of them used what they learned to make the masks. Madame Gill would not show Marguerite, a master basket maker, how to make this mask because she was afraid that Marguerite would make them and compete with her. Madame Gill died in the late nineties at around 80 years old. Note: The information in this webpage is from an interview with Marguerite Panadis by Paul Crosby at her home in July 2005. All pictures were taken by Paul Crosby and copyright is claimed. |
Other Views of the Abenaki Sweetgrass Mask
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Click on the above picture |
Click on the above picture |
