Awikhigan:Evoking Indigenous Stories and Landscapes

Rhonda Besaw
Judy Dow
Cheryl Savageau

August 27 - September 20
Gallery at Elayne P. Bernstein Theater,
Shakespeare & Company, Lenox, MA

Friday, Saturday & Sunday 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
In Abenaki, awikhigan has many meanings - writings, birchbark markings, maps, paintings,  wampum belts - through which the Dawnland peoples have evoked particular landscapes and human action in those spaces. For the Wabanaki communities of New England, the plants, animals, rocks and rivers of the landscape are alive; animate ancestors and beings with whom they share creation. These beings are central to their art.  The works in this show embody the spirit of awikhigan.

Judy Dow’s baskets are made from materials collected along waterways known to her basket making ancestors for hundreds of years. Cheryl Savageau’s poems and quilts piece together relationships tied to both particular landscapes and particular people. Rhonda Besaw’s beadwork incorporates traditional patterns and materials with her own contemporary flair.

Awikhigan will open on August 26 with a reception and artists’ talk featuring Judy Dow and Cheryl Savageau.  Gallery hours will be from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm Friday - Sunday from August 27 - September 20.  Register here for Artists Talk. The Artists Talk will be live streamed and recorded - reservations not required for live stream.

Learn more about University Days 2022: We Are Still Here: Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast. Lectures, art shows, walking tours and more!

Learning about the United State’s Native American Heritage is vital to weaving a more equitable social fabric for everyone. If you would like to contribute to our continuing work towards this goal click here to make a contribution to OLLI’s Northeast Indigenous Initiative, found in the “Designation” drop down menu.

We Are Still Here: Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast is supported in part by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council through the local cultural councils of Alford-Egremont, Dalton, Great Barrington, Lee, Lenox, Mount Washington, North Berkshire, Otis, Pittsfield, Richmond, Sandisfield, Sheffield and Stockbridge and with in-kind support and partnership from Berkshire Community College, and Shakespeare & Company.