hands1.jpg (136071 bytes) OUR LIVES IN OUR HANDS, a documentary film by Harald Prins and Karen Carter, shows the Mi'kmaq Indian way of life in northern Maine, focusing on the traditional craft of woodsplint basketry.

Like other native groups in northeast North America, Mi'kmaq tribespeople in Aroostook County have relied on basketmaking and migrant seasonal labor for subsistence since the mid-1800s. Men "cruise" Maine's snow-covered woodlands for brown ash trees and haul the logs back home; the "pound" the wood and prepare the splints. Men, as well as women, weave sturdy utility baskets, especially the potato basket long used for harvesting crops. Women make the more delicate fancy baskets, interweaving splints and sweetgrass.

Recent mechanization of farm labor has resulted in a drastic decline in demand for harvesting  baskets. Responding to such modern challenges and struglging for cultural survival, members of the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians have formed a cooperative to find wider markets for their native crafts.

Click here for information about the book, Our Lives in Our Hands
"This admirable film features Micmac basketmakers . . . at work in their homes, in the forest, on the potato farms, in the Basket Bank and its workshops. The filmmakers successfully maintain high quality color and sound in all these settings. The film is well edited and paced. The basketmakers' first-person commentaries are augmented only by authentic 17th-century Micmac music. Our Lives in Our Hands is highly recommended for studies of culture change and courses on Native North Americans and ethnography at all academic levels. It is also appropriate for general audiences." American Anthropologist   This documentary film, in which our voices are going to be heard and in which we show how we live, how we work, and ways we have chosen to continue the lives of our fore-fathers and mothers, will make an important difference. The Aroostook Micmac Council has fully supported this project. The Micmac Indian community is thankful and proud to share our lives with all of you in the hope that this film contributes to a better understanding of who we really are.   Chief Donald Sanipass, introductory comments at film's premiere showing, American Museum of Natural History, New York, 1985
SHOWING VENUES INCLUDE extensive classroom use and special showings, eg:
  • American Museum of Natural History, New York (premiere, 1985)
  • Film Festival of the Society for Visual Anthropology, Santa Fe (1986)
  • Smithsonian Institution, Festival of American Folklife, Washington, DC (1987)
  • WCBB Public Television (1986)
  • Maine Public Broadcasting Network (1987)
  • American Anthropological Association annual meeting (1986, 1992)
  • Barbara Meyerhoff Film Festival, Los Angeles (1987)
  • 12th Annual American Indian Film Festival, San Francisco (1987)
  • International Conference on Visual Studies of Society, Amsterdam (1989)
  • "Film, Food & the Future" film series, sponsored by Cultural Survival, Earthwatch, and Documentary Educational Resources (1990)
  • University of Pennsylvania Museum (1993)
VIDEO RENTAL/PURCHASE INFORMATION:

For institutional use: Documentary Educational Resources, 101 Morse St., Watertown, MA 02172 (phone: 617-926-0491; email: cclose@der.org; Web site: http://www.der.org/docued)

For individual use:  Northeast Historic Film, PO Box 900, 379 Main St., Bucksport, ME 04416 (phone: 207-469-0924; Web site: www.oldfilm.org//w95062aa.html)

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