Akwesasne Cultural Center Museum - Part 3

I was touring the Akwesasne Cultural Center Museum in Hogansburg, New York (see also previous two posts) and came to these cornhusk ironworker dolls, a tribute to the long-standing tradition of structural steel or ironwork. Over 300 Akwesasne Mohawks are members in Local 440 even today:

A water drum. I believe that different amounts of water are placed inside to add tone and pitch to the drumbeat. I own a clay water drum, made in Mexico, and I assume this worked similarly:

Ancient pottery and modern pottery:

Moccasins with porcupine quillwork:

Antler carvings of the Three Sisters: Bean Spirit, Squash Spirit and Corn Spirit:

A beaded bracelet:

Deerskin:

The Iroquois headdress was made of a wood splint frame, wrapped in leather. Each of the six nations had a distinctive headdress, adorned with silver and brass bands, cloth, beads, quahog shells and turkey, hawk or partridge feathers. Eagle feathers appeared at the top of each one and a chief's headdress also included deer antlers. I got a photo of all six nations. This was Seneca:

Mohawk:

Oneida:

Onondaga:

Cayuga:

Tuscarora:

Akwesasne Cultural Center Museum - Part 2

I was touring the Akwesasne Cultural Center Museum (see Part 1, posted yesterday) and stopped at these two stuffed partridge to read the sign. It explained that "Akwesasne" means "Land where the partridge drums:"

Everyday items for grinding corn, etc:

This soapstone carving represents the three sisters - corn, beans and squash. The face represents Mother Earth and the turtle shell represents Turtle Island, a term for this continent which originates with the creation story. The artist was Steve Kateroton McComber, a Mohawk:

A Bear Clan pendant, maker unknown, and a Snipe Clan Pendant, by Helen Laughing. Clans are one of the oldest aspects of Mohawk culture and are still important in Akwesasne as part of a person's identity:

This beaded hanging urn, maker unknown, was one of a wide variety of items made for sale in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The use of glass beads began in the 1600s and continues today:

A turtle shell rattle:

Three canoes, from top to bottom: Birchbark (collected in Akwesasne in 1925), Dugout (found on the banks of Earl Creek in 1972), and another, more sophisticated Dugout (purchased in Akwesasne in the late 1800s):

I've always loved dioramas, though they are devilishly hard to photograph. This was part of an extensive diorama which illustrated the layout of a typical village:

More exquisite baskets:

More beadwork and other objects of art:

I didn't notice the detail on this large basket until I got home and was editing photos. Then I noticed the tiny baskets all over its surface, but especially hanging from around the rim:

A horn rattle with bear carving (the bear is on the end of the handle):

Beadwork and Quillwork earrings:

Cloth and beadwork needle case:

Birchbark and porcupine quill box. And yet there was still more to see. I'll post Part 3 tomorrow: