A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
NYS Museum staff receiving basket for permanent collection. Front row L-R: Andrea Lain, Anthropology Collections Manager, Mohawk basketmaker Sheila Ransom, Lisa Anderson, Repatriation Coordinator. Back row L-R: Dr. Jonathan Lothrop, Curator of Archaeology, Dr. John Hart, Director, Research and Collections Division, Dr. Michael Lucas, Curator of Historical Archaeology. Photo by Deb Cook.
Bird beak basket made by Sheila Ransom. Photo courtesy of Marilyn White.
Lisa Anderson with the NYS Museum accepts basket from Sheila Ransom. Photo by Deb Cook.
On Friday, July 18th, Sheila 'Kanieson' Ransom, Mohawk basket maker, delivered her fancy bird beak basket, made of sweetgrass and black ash splint, to the New York State Museum for the permanent Native American collection. The basket will also be featured in an upcoming exhibit starting on December 13th, featuring 21 artists from Native American nations in New York State. Other Mohawk artists from Akwesasne will include David Fadden, Roger Perkins and Natasha Smoke Santiago.
Sheila has been making baskets for well over 15 years, learning from various basket makers, including her godmother Mae Bigtree and Henry Arquette to name a few.
She is a very accomplished basket maker, winning many honors at the NYS Fair. In 2012, her fancy basket was chosen and presented to Pope Benedict XVI during the Canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha in Rome, the first Mohawk saint. The same year Sheila's basket was presented to President Barack Obama. She has also been featured in 'North by Northeast – Wabanaki, Akwesasne Mohawk and Traditional Arts' by Kathleen Mundell.
Sheila has demonstrated her skills at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, and at the New York State Fair's Indian Village. She continues to teach and mentor students.
She will be the featured Artisan-In-Residence at the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, NY from Monday, August 25 to Wednesday, August 27. She will be demonstrating traditional black-ash and sweetgrass basketry and will talk about her training and inspiration, and her baskets will be available for viewing.
Congratulations to Sheila on having your basket become part of the permanent collection at the NYS Museum.
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