Women of the Dawn
“Four Mollys” Reawakens Wabanaki Past
By Caitlin Tunney

Rebecca Cole-Will, curator of collections at the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, prepares a glass exhibit case for “Four Mollys: Women of the Dawn.” The exhibition opens Jan. 31. STAFF PHOTO BY CAITLIN TUNNEY

BAR HARBOR—A piece of silver jewelry, a beaded bag, a woven basket, an iron tool. Such possessions, collected over the course of a life, tell the story not only of their owner’s individual journey but about the times through which she traveled.

“Four Mollys: Women of the Dawn,” an exhibition opening Jan. 31 at the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, chronicles the lives of four Maine Native American women. Through their individual narratives, the exhibit explores 400 years of the Northeast region’s history.

The exhibition is based on an award-winning book by anthropologist Bunny McBride. McBride, a Kansas resident, also served as guest curator for the exhibition.

“What drew me to the Abbe was its long-standing, collaborative relationship with the Native tribes of Maine,” she said.

Development of the exhibition, two years in the making, began almost immediately after the publication of McBride’s book, “Women of the Dawn,” in 1999. The Abbe staff, led by curator of collections Rebecca Cole-Will, worked with McBride and the Wabanaki Women’s Advisory Group, a panel of Native American women, to bring to life the stories of four Wabanaki women, all called Molly.

The name “Wabanaki” applies to a group of Algonquin-speaking tribes indigenous to the North Atlantic coast. The Wabanaki communities that remain in existence include the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet, Mi’kmaq and Abenakis.

Telling the stories of these women, whose lives span the 1600s to the 1900s, provides an opportunity to highlight a part of history that often goes overlooked, according to Cole-Will.

“I am not sure anyone has ever done an exhibition like this, of Native women’s history,” she said.

One goal of the exhibition is to put viewers intimately in touch with the experiences of women in each period, said McBride. “I want people to see behind the objects into the lives of these women,” she said, “to have the experience of walking on the arm of a Molly.”

To that end, the exhibition includes a combination of historical information, personal artifacts and imaginative re-creations, to give a sense of place in history and to conjure an idea of the personal space each woman occupied, according to Cole-Will. The artifacts from each period include, in several instances, possessions that can be traced directly to the women themselves, an unusual opportunity for the curating team.

“These pieces that belonged to the Mollys are rare and intimate objects. It’s an extraordinary thing. I’ve never been able to do this in an exhibition before,” said Cole-Will.

The exhibition also includes life-size set pieces, reproductions of the women’s personal environments. These are not intended to be strict re-creations; rather, said Cole-Will, they function as evocative statements about the women’s physical surroundings. Thematically, each Molly is linked to a season and a corresponding color, intended to convey something of the essence of her life.

The exhibition pays particular attention to the influences, tensions and interactions between the Native American communities and European culture.

“These women were at the forefront of change, but they were also bearers of their cultures,” said Cole-Will.

The Molly chronicles begin with Molly Mathilde (1665-1717), the child of a Penobscot chief, who married a Frenchman, the Baron de St. Castin, forming a powerful alliance. She lived during the period of first contact with European settlers, a time of exploration between the two cultures.

The cross-cultural curiosity typical of the period is something the exhibition seeks to capture, said Cole-Will.

By the time of the birth of the second woman, Molly Ockett (1740-1816), curiosity had turned to conflict. Molly Ockett was a Pequawket who was taken captive by the English as a young child, living with them for several years before returning to her native community. She existed in a time of war, including the American Revolution and two French-Indian conflicts. Her life’s work, however, was as a healer for both natives and non-natives.

Molly Molasses (1775-1867), a Penobscot woman, lived through the aftermath of the Revolution and the onset of industrialization. Her life was greatly influenced by commerce—she became a trader and plied her handmade wares on the streets of Bangor.

The fourth woman, Molly Dellis Nelson (1903-1977), known on the stage and screen as Molly Spotted Elk, was a performer whose career led her throughout the United States and Europe. She, too, married a Frenchman, journalist Jean Archambaud.

While living in Paris, Molly Dellis Nelson began to research and document Wabanaki history, and collected biographical information on Molly Mathilde. Her research provided key inspiration for McBride. Molly Dellis Nelson’s daughter, Jean Archambaud Moore, served on the Wabanaki Women’s Advisory Group, and loaned several of her mother’s possessions to the Abbe.

The exhibition, the first large-scale event held in the Abbe Museum’s new building, is a landmark in its level of collaboration, said McBride. The Abbe has borrowed from more than 20 public and private collections for the exhibition, including many artifacts indigenous to the region that have never been seen by the public.

Lenders participating in the exhibition include the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Quebec, and the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. In Maine, lenders include the Bangor Historical Society and the Bangor Public Library, the Penobscot Nation Museum, and the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. Funding for this exhibition was provided in part by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.

Among Cole-Will’s hopes for the exhibition are that it will spur people to think beyond stereotypes of native peoples and to question the role of history: its events, its tangible remnants in object form and the function they serve in influencing our present and future. Upon exiting the exhibition, viewers will see posted on the wall, in giant block letters, the question Cole would like them to take home: “What of the past will be carried into the future?”

“We want people to walk away thinking about that big idea,” she said.

“Four Mollys: Women of the Dawn” will be on exhibit through Oct. 20. The Abbe Museum is located at 26 Mount Desert St. in Bar Harbor. Its winter hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Information: 288-3519, abbe@midmaine.com or www.abbemuseum.org.

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