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Barbara trimming standards at her home. Indian Island, Maine, 2002

(2003)

52minutes.

Click here to buy a DVD

$25 plus tax and shipping. ($50 public performance, libraries etc)

Music by Hawk Henries

Barbara Francis' story is quite amazing and she truly is an inspiration. You have done a masterful job of capturing her, her art, and her history on film. Thank you so much! Viewer from Ohio; 2003

***  - Recommended Video Librarian 2003

Barbara's husband, Marty, pounding ash to make weavers and standards. Indian Island, ME 2002

Marty died on January 1st, 2006. He is greatly missed.

Best Diversity Film; Route 66 Film Festival August 2003

Award of Distinction; Indian Summer Image Awards August 2003

Maine International Film Festival July 2003

DaVinci Days Film Festival July 2003

New Haven Film Festival; Sept 2003

American Indian Film Institute Festival, San Francisco; November 2003

First Nations Film and Video Festival, Chicago; November 2003

Maine Public Television - June, 2004.

Boston/New England region Emmy nomination - 2005

"When I floundered the most coming back to my tradition and where I came from was my salvation."

Barbara Francis had been away for five years when she came back home to Indian Isle, Maine, in 1977. She was twenty years old, alone, and with no home to go to. Alberta Nicola and Violet Frances Shay had been basket makers all their lives. They took Barbara in, gave her a home, and taught her the basics of basket making. Through their stories and tales they gave her a deeper understanding of her Penobscot heritage. But more importantly, at that time, they provided what she needed most of all - quiet comfort and reassurance. Barbara was pregnant, deserted, and searching for a place in this world. She began to find it here with these two old Indian women.

"They were so superstitious in the old ways, the two old women said, `You are going to have a boy and he's going to have a noose around his neck.' And it turned out I had a boy and his umbilical cord was around his neck."

Nedabeh was born on December 27th, 1977. Barbara's place was coming more and more into focus. Alberta and Violet taught Barbara how to make bookmarks and button boxes and had gotten her through a difficult time in her life. However, it wasn't until years later when her grandmother, Francine, suggested that she make baskets with her that Barbara began to learn more complicated forms and intricate weaves. Soon, she surpassed her grandmother's talents for weaving and started to come up with designs of her own. After seeing Barbara's talent emerge renowned basket maker, Rose Clark, not only passed on her knowledge of basket making to Barbara but also her wooden blocks that she had used all her life and had, in turn, received from her ancestors. Others that helped Barbara along the way include Fred Nicola; her aunt, Eunice Crowley; grandmother, Doris Daigle and many others whose names and lives have long since passed, but whose spirits play on in the hands of basket makers like Barbara Francis.

"For me, Rosie Clark and these old basket makers, they are here all the time. They are part of me. Part of my work. And they are part of the process of passing it on to the next generation. Each one of them gave me something. I feel like I am walking in their footsteps right behind them".