New Exhibits at the Akwesasne Cultural Center Museum

By Mahlon Smoke.

The Akwesasne Cultural Museum is host to exhibits that showcase the beading talents of the community, ancient artifacts found in old Mohawk territories, and pre-pandemic they held classes teaching community members about basket making, beading, and more. The museum is happy to introduce some new additions to their exhibits which includes a display of beautifully crafted splint and sweetgrass baskets ranging in size from largest to smallest and a new wampum belt display.

In the "Size Matters" basket exhibit, the baskets have been repositioned to fully illustrate the size and mastery of work of local basketmakers. All baskets on display were made by community members, some were donated to the museum, others were purchased.

One basket by Gertrude Gray was refurbished by Curtis Terrance, combining different colors into one beautiful design that was intriguing to the staff in the museum. This was done of Terrance's own accord and is now on display with the Size Matters exhibit.

Along with the basket exhibit is the Wampum Belt display. These belts are a range of sizes, include the Hiawatha belt as the largest; One Dish, One Spoon belt and Revitalization of the Mohawk Language belts as the smallest. The belts were made from plastic beads so they can be held by guests who wish to get a closer look or handled and shown to a group with fear of damage.

These additions can now be viewed at the Museum while maintaining social distancing rules and with limited capacity. Museum goers can look forward to more changes coming in the near future. The museum is looking into showcasing a gallery of contemporary art from local artists.

According to Iakonikonriiosta, Museum Director, "We are working with North Country Public Radio, they are taking interviews and photographs that will be displayed here (in a dedicated 12-foot space)"

Starting in May, the museum hours of operations for the summer will change to Tuesday to Friday 10 am – 3 pm and include Saturdays from 10 am – 2 pm.