Further research determined that the box had been sent by minister Samson Occom from the Mohegan community in Brothertown to his sister Lucy at Mohegan as a record of the journ
The baskets have more than just a strictly ‘tale-telling’ purpose. Samson sent it to his sister to show her what his trip was like through narrative, giving the baskets a deeper, more complex meaning to the Mohegan Culture.
To read the Mohegan narrative of the basket, we must make a critical move that elides the Western print symbolic system in favor of traditional Mohegan communicative practices: We must turn to its surfac
Although we have information from the newspaper, to truly understand the message of the box, we have to ignore our western instincts and look at the outside of the box. This is problematic and what Fitzgerald is trying to point out is that historically, artifacts like the baskets have been overlooked by Westerners solely because it doesn’t conform to its standard of sharing information.
Early
"Dollhouses Weren’t Invented For Play" is an article written by Nicole Cooley. She begins by talking about the history of dollhouses, where they came from and their original purpose. Their beginnings are rooted in Germany, Holland, and England in the 17th century. They served two main purposes, display and pedagogy, which is the method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept. “Nuremberg Houses” is a term coined to describe them, and the dollhouses became a way to teach young girls how to take care of the house and become ‘The Woman of the House’. As time went on, the dollhouses almost disappeared completely. They popped up again in England during the 18th century as “Baby Houses” that were exact miniatures of the owners actual home. They did not reemerge again until the mid to late 20th century. With their revival, they took on a new purpose. Dollhouses became a whole new world, for the owners, adults and children, to lose themselves in. She describes how they have transformed themselves into a part of her culture. Its something special with her and she can share it with her daughters.
Cooley, Nicole. "Dollhouses Weren’t Invented For Play." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 22 July 2016. Web. 05 Sept. 2016.
17 Hartford, Connectic
This is a visual of where the Mohegan tribe was located
Original Inhabitants of what is now Massachuusetts. Digital image. Native American Tribes of Massachusetts. Native Languages of the Americas Website © 1998-2015, n.d. Web. 6 Sept. 2016.
Indians made baskets and other woven objects long before European and other setders reached American shore
This is important because Europeans historically overlooked the native’s way of life, or even claiming a native custom as their own.
The Mohegan word for painting, wuskuswang, is the same word used for writing, inducting painted baskets in a long textual tradition that includes decorative birch bark etching, beadwork, wampum belts, and the written wor
This is an insight into their history and their way of life. We can read into their culture through the baskets.
, Mohegan basket design patterns contain spiritual connotations that serve to reinforce their aesthetic value and provide meaning for those who can read the basket text
This quotes just gives insight into who the Mohegan people are. Instead of valuing aesthetics purely for the visual and artistic pleasure, they put the value in the meanings behind the beautiful craft. To me, this is a fantastic quality of the Mohegan people as a whole.
Both the variety of design patterns and symbols on Mohegan baskets of the early nineteenth century and Mohegan cultural memory support the theory that basket patterns were used as communicative or narrative devices
This is the evidence supporting the fact that it is a narrative, but only as a whole. To get the whole story, the patterns and the symbols must be together.
Many of these basket sellers, noted for characteristics ranging from wit to storytelling to musicianship, became legendary figures in the communities they visited
If the Mohegan Culture, as a whole, didn’t value aesthetics and didn’t see the baskets as a materialistic value, why did people become legendary figures due to the baskets?
The designs are nor only aesthetically pleasing but also deeply culturally significant
The same can be said about dollhouses. They are incredibly ornate for their minuscule size, and as of late, they represent our cultures need and want for family and home, not a physical place, but an emotional place to call home.(Cooley, “Dollhouses Weren’t Invented for Play”)
Size, form, style, and varying degrees of decoration all play a role in the making of the meaning and functio
This just goes to show you how complex and in depth the boxes and their story telling can go, and shows us that there is much to learn about their culture and even the baskets themselves. Also, this relates to dollhouses in the 17th century because they were of many different styles, decoration, and size. However, unlike the Mohegan Baskets, the dollhouses represented wealth and social status. (Cooley, “Dollhouses Weren’t Invented for Play”)
For example, one prominent Mohegan design, the Trail of Life symbol, explains the "east-to-west passage of spirits,” following the path of the sun
This reminds me of something the read in Dr. Collins American Literature about how natives are very deeply in tune with nature, so this supports that claim.
The basket represents multiple layers of meaning on several different leve
The same can be said about dollhouses. On a basic level, they are an ornament or toy. But just like the Mohegan Baskets, if you look deeper, they represent someone’s story, whether its through the symbols telling the story, or the way the house is structured or decorated.(Cooley, “Dollhouses Weren’t Invented for Play”)