Baskets by Dolly Barnes

Dolly Barnes, Passamaquoddy, learned to make baskets from her mother, Molly Neptune Parker (1939-2020). Molly was an acclaimed Wabanaki basket maker who received a 2012 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow and a First People’s Fund’s Community Spirit Award.

As a child, Dolly created her first baskets using scraps. She learned how to make fancy basket styles, specifically flower-top baskets that were passed down from prior generations. In addition to these designs, she also created vases, tall open cylinder baskets, knitting baskets, button baskets, and forms decorated with curl work and sweetgrass braids.

Dolly’s work has been showcased in various exhibitions, including the Portland Museum of Art, where her baskets are displayed alongside those of her mother, highlighting the Passamaquoddy weaving traditions' lasting traditions.