Rare textile reproduction makes tour stop in Houlton

  HOULTON, Maine — A Houlton woman contributed to five hundred painstaking hours re-creating a late 18th century native American ceremonial chief’s coat that will tour New England and the Maritimes. The coat is part of a collection the Maine State Museum has billed as “unprecedented” and “a landmark” displaying the textile arts of native people from early historic Maine and Quebec.
Rose Tomah, an elder in the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, went to St. John to examine the original as did the other women. They also traveled several times to the Maine State Museum in Augusta and worked from photos because the original garment was too delicate to be on display. Tomah sewed colorful silk ribbons on the rich red wool garment that was embellished with colored glass seed beads and glass bugle beads as the original had been.
Laurie LaBar, chief curator of history at the Maine State Museum is one of two curators of “Uncommon Threads” — an exhibit that will be on tour until 2014. Referring to the project “as a labor of love and art,” LaBar worked on the garment as part of a five-woman team that also included a conservation technician.
The coat, shown in early June at the Maliseet gym for just one afternoon, consisted of a cap, mantle (or match coat), sashes, breechcloth, leggings and a neckpiece (a gorget). The original gorget had been gold-plated brass — a technique used by native Americans at least as far back as the 18th century.
According to LaBar, the person who wore the garment was “definitely an important man, probably a chief. The gorget signified that he had high status and was aligned with the British as a military ally.” The reproduction gorget was done in brass and treated to prevent tarnish.
Gal Frey, a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township, did most of the bead work on the garment. She said it involved several thousand glass beads. Upon seeing it completed, she said her reaction “was really emotional.” Frey added: “You get choked up, misty eyed. We knew the work that went into it and we had seen the original in St. John.”
Jennifer Neptune, from the Penobscot Tribe on Indian Island also helped do bead work and ribbon work. She, too, saw the original in New Brunswick at the museum and traveled to Augusta for the sewing. “A lot of hours went into it. But, it went pretty fast working with a group. We are all really proud of it and we put our hearts and souls into it. A lot of these items are in museums and left our community. Not too many people get to see them unless they make an effort to go into museums and ask to view their collections to see what they have,” said Neptune.
For more information call 287-2301 or visit the museum website at: www.mainestatemuseum.org.