Gina Brooks, a master Maliseet artist from St. Mary’s First Nation in New Brunswick, Canada, teaches the art of etching designs on birch bark panels during a two-day workshop at the Maliseet Boys and Girls Club in Houlton. Brooks seeks to enhance and deepen connections to the land “and to ourselves.” She also feels a responsibility to maintain cultural traditions. Around 20 students ages 5-18, many of them Maliseet, also learn how to preserve and make frames for their artworks. At left, Foxx Hardy shows his finished art.

Opened in 2010 the club has become a hub of activity for Native American youth. The club runs a mentoring program and “Power Hour,” an academic tutoring program that helps students with homework. It also organizes physical fitness activities, such as kickball, yoga, soccer, basketball, and snowshoeing.

MaineCF’s Belvedere Traditional Handcrafts Fund provided funding for the event through a grant to the Penobscot Boys and Girls Club, which represents Micmac, Maliseet, and Passamaquoddy tribes. “With this grant,” says Nichole Francis, CEO of the club, “the Maliseet community is now in a position to bring in Maliseet artists to share their traditions intergenerationally.”

Photos Becky Shea