Abbe Museum- August 27

We spent our afternoon at this museum in Bar Harbor. It was one of the best I have seen on Native American art and culture. It covered information only on those Indians of the Wabanaki Confederacy, of which there are four tribes here in Maine. In this museum are artifacts of these Native Indians found in archeological digs since the beginning of the 20th century. Those artifacts have shone a light on the life and culture of the Native Indians since the 16OOs. That section of the museum was called “Layers of Time”. The other part of the museum was called “Twisted Path: Contemporary Native American Artists Walking in Two Worlds”. In this area there are beautiful paintings and photographs, quilts, jewelry, sculptures and baskets created by the Wabanaki Indians. Their work in these different mediums has a combination of the old as well as the new in their artistry. George Longfish explains his artwork with these words: “my art revolves around issues that affect Native Americans as we pursue Truth…who, due to advancement of civilization, have been left with many unresolved issues”. I enjoyed this particular room very much; the artistry shown was quite impressive and gave messages of hope and joy as well as deep sadness. There also was another room in this museum which was quite interesting. It was a high ceiling round room with only a couple items in it. It was entitled: “ Circle of Four Directions”. In the Wabanaki culture the circle represents wholeness. Life is constantly moving in cycles of birth ,growth, decay and death. Swinging from the ceiling in this room was a several layered white framed net. It was hanging above the sculptured form of an eagle in flight. Such a simple room, an architectural tribute to the Wabanaki Indian and his society. After touring the museum we took one last look at Acadia Park. I have posted a picture here of the shoreline at Thunder Hole. It was a bit more peaceful today.