Sherry Gould (Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation) and Vera Sheehan (Elnu Abenaki Tribe), are both lifelong artists and their apprenticeship structure is unique. They are both recognized in their communities as expert artists in different art forms. Sherry is a basket maker. In 2006 she became a juried basketmaker through the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen in 2006, being the first Native American artist in the league. Sherry and her husband, Bill, work to maintain basketmaking as part of Abenaki culture through teaching other Abenaki people through traditional arts programs in New Hampshire and Vermont. Sherry is also a state representative in New Hampshire. Vera practices knotting: Abenaki textile weaving using natural fibers such as milkweed (also referred to as twining). She is also an educator and activist, the Director of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, and the Founder of the Abenaki Arts & Education Center, and previously a Museum Educator and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
Click here to read the full article on the Vermont Folklife website and listen to recordings by Sherry and Verafinger weaving
Linda Longtoe Sheehan
Enrolled Citizen of the Elnu Abenaki Tribe
Juried Artist since 2013
Linda Longtoe Sheehan’s specialty is wampum. She is known affectionately as “Wampum Woman.” She started making wampum belts over thirty years ago and passed her knowledge onto countless young people.
Linda makes wampum belts and jewelry from glass beads, mother of pearl and quahog. Her beadmaking starts with a quahog shell. She cuts it to size and shapes it. Then she weaves her wampum belts using braintanned leather.
Linda learned brain tanning from Mark Humpel, who hosts an annual braintanning weekend. Unfortunately, due to a disability she can no longer make braintan leather herself so she is passing this tradition on to students. In the winter months, Linda teaches them how to scrape the deer hides; soak them in the braintan solution; stretch and dry the hides; and work them until they are soft. Then she cuts it into long strips. Each hide takes about 50 hours.
She has done demonstrations at museums and historic sites throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States. Her work was even requested by the Presidents protocol office.
Artist Statement
I have been designing and making wampum belts, wrist bands, necklaces, bracelets and earrings for over 30 years;. I work with real Quahog, glass and mother of pearl wampum beads. My work has been on display at the Institute for American Indian studies and at Johnson Hall (historic site).
During the winter months, I also make my own brain tan leather which I use for to weave my belts.
Although I specialize in wampum, I also do Traditional finger weaving, eastern center seam moccasins, Quillwork and I twine.
Contact
Address: RR 30 Box 261
Email: [email protected]
Website: Back To The Moose Robe
Exhibits (select list)
2009 to present
Contact of Cultures, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, VT
2017-2018
Alnobak: Wearing Our Heritage (traveling exhibit). Vermont Abenaki Artists Association and Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.
2015
Parley and Protocol: Abenaki Diplomacy Past and Present. Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. Vergennes, VT.
2014
- Traditional Sources, Contemporary Visions – Invitational Group Art Exhibit. Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, VT
- All My Relations: Faces and Efficacies from the Native World – Invitational Group Art Exhibit. Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum, Warner, NH
2013
- Featured Artist, Institute for American Indian Studies, Washington, CT
- Demonstrator. Ft. at # 4, Charleston, NH
Presentations & Demos (select list)
2013
- Demonstrator. Ft. at # 4, Charleston, NH
- Annual Native American Weekend, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes,VT
- Abenaki Encampment, “Jamaica Old Home Days,” Salmon Hole, Jamaica, VT
2012
- Annual Native American Weekend, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, VT
- Demonstrator. Ft. at # 4, Charleston, NH
- Abenaki Encampment, “Jamaica Old Home Days,” Salmon Hole, Jamaica, VT
2011
- Annual Native American Weekend, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, VT
- Speaking To The Ancestors Abenaki Gathering, ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center/Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, VT
- Abenaki Encampment, “Jamaica Old Home Days,” Salmon Hole, Jamaica, VT
- Demonstrator. Native American Month Presenter. University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
2010
- Annual Native American Weekend, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, VT
- Abenaki Encampment, “Jamaica Old Home Days,” Salmon Hole, Jamaica, VT
2009
- Vermont Indigenous Celebration. ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center/Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Burlington, VT
- Abenaki Encampment, “Jamaica Old Home Days,” Salmon Hole, Jamaica, VT
2008
- Annual Native American Weekend, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, VT
- Abenaki Encampment, “Jamaica Old Home Days,” Salmon Hole, Jamaica, VT
2007
- Annual Native American Weekend, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes, VT
- Abenaki Encampment, “Jamaica Old Home Days,” Salmon Hole, Jamaica, VT
Film & Radio
- Reger, Deborah. Moccasin Tracks . Recorded . WGDR 91.1 FM
- Schulmeisters, Lina L. “Artisan Spotlight: Linda Longtoe.” Askawobi Productions, 2012
Affiliations
Woodland Confederacy
Vermont Abenaki Artists Association