Woman's Face /Morning Star Talking Stick; chip carved: Erik Sappier, Penobscot

Description

This is a very traditionally carved talking stick with traditional chip carving motifs  and a not so traditional woman's head  with her
Wabanaki
"peaked cap"
is beautiful. This was made by Erik Sappier, Penobscot/Abenaki.  The peaked cap
would have been worn by Erik's female ancestresses - both Penobscot & Abenaki.
Below her face is a choker style necklace with a "Morning Star" pendant.  The choker is of incised vertical lines, the morning star is made with 4 chip carved triangles on the sides of a square - there are 2 smaller size incised stars/starbursts on either side of the morning star.
Wabanaki
- a confederacy of 5 NE tribes currently residing in what is now Maine, Vermont and Eastern Canada....  The Abenaki, Maliseet, MicMac (Mi'kmaq - Canadian spelling), Passamaquoddy and Penobscot.
As far as I am aware Erik is the only Wabanaki chip carver - ever - to put a woman's face atop his work, talking sticks, walking sticks and on a root club.  -- Men's faces -  chiefs & braves faces are the traditional faces atop these items.
Traditionally many chip carved items, talking sticks, walking sticks and root clubs have some of the bark left on some portion of these items.  Here the bark is left on the upper portion of the stick, and Erik has cut out a large portion of the upper front of the stick where he has carved the woman's head.
Erik Sappier's work is included in a recent Abbe Museum's exhibit....
"
Emergence: Root Clubs of the Penobscot Nation"
Erik uses traditional designs with several variations on a traditional style chip carved talking stick,  most are design elements that have been used by Erik's ancestors for centuries.
This talking stick has at top - the woman's head with her peaked cap.  Below the face and morning star is a bit of bark.  Beneath that on the front is a triangle of many chip carved triangles, from this triangle dangles several elongated deep chip carved ovals - feathers or leaves.
Directly below this front triangle is an "arrow shaft" which is made of 3 connected diamonds of chip carving with 2 stacked chip carved triangles on either end.  Connected to the top and bottom of the shaft are
ash branches (more on this below). In the middle of the staff connected to the diamonds are incised leaves with chip carved centers.
On the back of the stick near the bottom of the bark section Erik carved out a medallion and placed his maker's mark inside - his initials EJ with the S in the shape of a lightning bolt a bit off to the side.  There are 2 incised star shapes in this medallion as well
At the top of the bottom half of the back of the stick are ash branches which have wrapped around the stick going upwards from the arrow shaft in front.  Below these is an upright ash branch.
This stick is 11" long and about 1" diameter.  The woman's face is  3.25" long from top of peaked cap to bottom of the "morning star" symbol.   1" across.   You will receive information on Native Americans' use of talking sticks with this piece.
last photo; Erik Sappier holding one of his walking sticks
The traditional designs have been used for centuries by Wabanaki (Name for 5 tribes - 4 of which are in Maine- Penobscots, Passamaquoddy, MicMac, and Maliseets and the Abenaki which are in Vermont and NE Canada)
Erik Sappier is Penobscot and Abenaki (of the Woodstock New Brunswick tribal band of Abenaki) He grew up living on Abenaki land in New Brunswick in the winters and summers he spent  on Indian Island - the Penobscot Nation - near Old Town Maine. He is a lifelong friend of Joe Hugga Dana and recently apprenticed with Hugga. Joe "Hugga" Dana is the son of Stan Neptune and was taught by his father to chip carve. Stan is the leading authority on Maine Indian chip carving, root clubs and walking sticks. In the process of learning Penobscot myths, history, legends and stories from Senabeh, a religious elder and root club carver, Stan picked up chip carving. So - Erik has is the latest to learn the craft that Senabeh taught
.
Talking sticks were used in tribal council meetings, the only one who could speak was the one holding the talking stick.
Talking sticks were decorated, but only here in Maine and eastern Canada do the designs include chip carving.  Chip carving is unique to the North East among Native Americans.  The design on this talking stick is Abenaki/Penobscot and is Erik's way of making this stick a blend of both his native traditions. (Or aboriginal traditions as they would be called in New Brunswick Canada)
The chip carved leafed branches you see on this stick are similar in Senabeh, Stan Neptune, Joe Hugga Dana and Erik Sappier's work.  These branches and leaves were a subject of conversation between Hugga and Erik recently. They say it is a brown ash which is a sacred tree to the Northeast Native Americans - it figures in their creation myth... they were made by an arrow piercing the brown ash tree and the splinters became the people. Please check out all the pics in the slide show to see several traditional designs around this stick.  And also to see a photo of Erik taken at the College of the Atlantic's July 2010 - Maine Indian Basketmaker's show