PASSAMAQUODDY-WABANAKI CANOE MAKER DAVID MOSES BRIDGES DIED
Born May 17, 1962, in Portland, Maine, David began paying attention to Native issues and learning more about his culture and heritage after the American Indian Movement occupied Wounded Knee in 1973. Returning to the reservation in the summer to visit relatives, he learned from his great-grandfather how to build canoes sturdy enough for the Atlantic Ocean and sleek enough for bays and rivers. He worked to preserve Wabanaki culture and fought for the environmental rights of tribes in Maine and across North America. The Maine Arts Commission named him a Traditional Arts Fellow, its highest honor in craft. In 2006, the First People’s Fund gave him its Community Spirit Award, in recognition of his work as an activist and traditional artist. An excellent basketmaker, he finished first for traditional basketmaking at the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market in 2015. David died at his home on the Pleasant Point Indian Reservation.
Source: “David Moses Bridges: An Artist and Activist Walks On,” Indian Country Today, 1/25/2017. Retrieved 12/5/2019, https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/archive/david-moses-bridges-an-artist-and-activist-walks-on-35MepFbVg0CHOSL82BT71w/ Photo: Billy Hawthorn, 7/1/2014. Traditional birch-bark canoe at Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor, Maine. Permissive Use.
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