Image

Woven rectangular bag with a long strap laying flat on the white backdrop. Its body features three rows of terracotta separated by three rows of yellow bordered terracotta geometric patterns against black.
Top-view of a purple and white beaded belt with loose thread ends alongside a cream, red, and green-gray woven satchel with a braided strap and tassels. Both feature geometric patterns.
Detail of the patterning on a black and terracotta striped woven bag. On the black stripes, orange geometric patterns are framed by cream threads.
Detail of the bag’s interior showing the rough wooly texture. Red rows alternate orange, black, and cream woven rows. A clear rectangle stands in the center keeping the bag open.
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Elizabeth James Perry

Thunderbird Over Red Earth (Twined Basket Bag)

Description

Maker

Elizabeth James Perry (Aquinnah Wampanoag, b. 1973)

Culture

Aquinnah Wampanoag, Native American (culture)

Title

Thunderbird Over Red Earth (Twined Basket Bag)

Year

2021

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Geography

Place Made: American

Dimensions

17.8 x 20.3 cm (7 x 8 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Georgianna Sayles Aldrich Fund

Object Number

2021.43.2

Type

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Being and Believing in the Natural World
Perspectives from the Ancient Mediterranean, Asia, and Indigenous North America
Oct 22, 2022 – Jun 04, 2023

Label copy

Elizabeth James-Perry’s multidisciplinary work includes wampum shell and Northeast twined textiles. Hailing from Noepe (Martha’s Vineyard), she learned her artistry from her mother and cousins. About these works, she writes: 

Shells and plant fibers are local and sustainable, likewise natural dyes from nuts, barks, and roots. Gathering wild materials is a pleasant way to travel throughout Wampanoag tribal homelands in modern-day eastern Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island. [These two works] represent many thousands of years of Native traditional ecological knowledge . . . . they are both ancient and young in that sense.

—SB

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Tombstone

Elizabeth James Perry (Aquinnah Wampanoag, b. 1973)
Thunderbird Over Red Earth (Twined Basket Bag), 2021
Patterned twined woven soft-fiber basket; hand-spun, long-staple hemp 2-ply yarn; naturally dyed with mordanted madder roott, logwood, and Osage orange; braided strap
17.8 x 20.3 cm (7 x 8 inches)
Georgianna Sayles Aldrich Fund 2021.43.2

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