Elnu Abenaki Tribe

Traditional designs used to create Wabanaki clothing were not strictly ornamental. 

Quite to the contrary, the wearer carefully chose the designs and materials to be used.  Each item had a symbolic and powerful meaning, which would help aid and protect the owner.  Prominent among these patterns of power was the double curve.

Rand’s Micmac-English Dictionary defines the double curve as, “Aboodalooak – a curved ornamental figure like two crescents placed back to back.  A very common form of ornamentation in carving, dyeing, and beadwork.”  Rand further translates Aboodalooakas, “It is carved with curious curves or flowers called Aboodalooakgal… Hence there seems to be a common connection between the double curve and a vegetation motif.”

According to Frank Speck, curves represented plants associated with, “protective and curative properties of medicinal herbs,” which was very important to Indians.  The exact symbolic meaning of certain double curve designs no longer known.  However, they have several general meanings.  The mirror image of the double curve reminds us to keep balance in our lives.  Clusters of curves together or side by side can symbolize community, alliance and the special unions of marriage and family.  When coil flourishes are added, it is a reminder of springtime, when plant shoots are just starting to open.

Sometimes flourishes are added to enhance double curves.  Bailey describes “…the former consisting of the three-lobed figure, the blossom, bud, leaf, and tendril…”   There is also a pedestal figure which seems to be a mark of identity. Double curves spread by means of trade and affiliation to many Algonquin and Iroquois tribes, who adopted and modified these designs in their craft work. However Double Curves are believed to have started among the Algonquin groupcollectively known as the Wabanaki Confederacy, which includes the Abenaki, Mi’kmaq,  Penobscot,  Passamaquoddy, and Malecite.

Vera Longtoe Sheehan has a BA in Museum Studies and Native American Studies. She has been consultating for museums and doing educational programs for museums, schools, and historic sites for over twenty-five years. The focus of Vera's art is in traditional clothing and twined woven plant fiber bags. Vera is also the Director of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association.