Sarah Sockbeson
This interview takes a different spin on the word, craft. Sarah Sockbeson is a renowned basketweaver and has a history of this traditional craft dated back to when her grandmother was a child. We did talk about this lightly at the beginning of the interview but then we got into the weeds of starting a podcast and Sarah asked me questions about my craft if you will.
Sarah Sockbeson’s Grandmother
“I am a Penobscot basket maker. So I actually do come from a long line of basket makers. So it's in my family, and it was always something that I had an interest in.
I think I was just an artist like I've always been an artist since I was just, I remember being four or five, six years old, and that's all I wanted to do was draw, color. So making things has always been my real true kind of desire and passion and so when I graduated high school, I planned to go to art school and that's what I wanted to pursue. I ended up taking some time away right after high school, I went, and I stayed and lived at my grandmother's house on the reservation on Indian Island. I ended up living with her for a while and helped her out after my grandfather died. So while I was there on the island, I began becoming more and more interested in hearing my grandmother's stories, knowing more about her as a child. I think it's really important when we have our elders around and available, that knowledge is there. When they're gone, that knowledge is gone, you know. So I think that it's really important to talk to them and get to know how they were when they were younger. That was really important to me, and just hearing the stories that she would tell about what it was like on Indian Island, way, way back in the day was really cool. I'm from India and Ireland, that's where my whole family is from, and on the other side, my dad's father is actually Passamaquoddy. My mom's side is actually from Brooklin, Maine, and down to the coast by Deer Isle, Stonington that area. After leaving, the Bangor, Indian Island area, I moved down that way and lived there from probably 11 on until I graduated high school. I have really strong ties, both to my mom's family from that area and then to my dad's family's from the Bangor, Indian Island area. So that's where I'm from, and my family, you know, has been here for generations and generations like this is our homelands. I love living in Maine. I actually appreciate the isolation and whatnot. I feel like it lends itself well to being an artist because sometimes the isolation helps you get your work done. You're not too distracted… there was just something that really drew me to basketry there, I don't know what it was, but it was something that drew me in and that was what I wanted to learn. I hoped that my grandmother could teach me because she would always say, oh, I used to make baskets with my mother. So I was like, okay, well, I'm gonna get some material, and you're gonna show me how to make a basket. And so I went, and I got the material. I brought it to her, and I presented it and I was like, okay, show me. And she was like, oh, I don't really remember and then her story changed slightly. She was like, well, you know, and she couldn't remember. I was not going to obtain the knowledge that I needed from her, unfortunately. So that was the sad part, that her generation just wasn't really interested, I'm not sure if they just wanted to kind of be a part of the mainstream dominant culture or what but she never learned, unfortunately. When that knowledge isn't passed from generation to generation, it happens very quickly, where that knowledge is lost,” said Sarah.
Even though Sarah didn’t learn the craft of basket weaving from her grandmother, she did learn from women who are a part of a popular basket weaving group in Maine. While Sarah’s full-time job is mainly basket weaving she has gotten into many other projects that support her culture, lifestyle, and community including a podcast that is all about stories of Native American artisans around the nation.
“I want to talk to artists, initially, and specifically native artists, and have them share their stories and allow them the opportunity to share their perspectives and insights on being contemporary artists and working in more traditional mediums,” said Sarah.
Sarah did a deep dive interview with me asking how I started my podcast and how I go about the theme and stories.
“What I wondered in listening, because I've listened to a bunch of your episodes, and wanted to get a feel for kind of your style of presenting and how you interview and whatnot. So what my question is, what was it about artists and craftspeople that interested you the most and drew you in and said, this is what's going to be my topic?” said Sarah.
“I feel like every maker is so different, and has a different story. So what I like to do is fully focus on that individual and what their story is about. That kind of pulls that thread of that theme, that topic, that focus. I feel like getting to know each individual maker first and foremost is probably like my first priority and sort of pulling together the content, pulling together that story, pulling together the questions. Then what I do is I also want to learn about the process of the craft, because that's really why I wanted to start the podcast, I wanted to treat it as an elementary sort of voice process because I know a lot of makers that use terminology where a lot of folks just don't understand. And they're like, Huh, what are you talking about? Like, can you take a step back? So I ask people to just tell us the elementary level, like broad level of a process of your craft, because that's better to understand in that regard. I typically get a focus on the general topic when asking or really putting together the questions, and I get through the story and the actual interview. So going into it, I do some research, but I actually like to get that topic after the interview, and really listening and engaging and just being like, okay, yep, I know exactly where this is gonna go. Some people do it way in the beginning and figure out that topic and that flow, I kind of do it afterward. It's a little bit different of a process,” said Kristan.
Sarah also asks if my perception of Maine has changed at all while going through the motions of my podcast.
I love Maine and I've been here for almost four years now. I feel like I have worked with some great people that introduced me to the small business and maker world, Sea Bags, in particular, loves to partner with makers in the local area, and just keeping the Maine routes as a part of its brand. The President of Sea Bags really introduced me to a lot of great brands. My whole publicist business, which is my full-time job is supporting small businesses and makers throughout Maine as well as up and down the East Coast. But it's mainly really in Maine. I can't believe there's over 99.2% of small businesses that encompass our business economy here. That's a large number. I think that's probably the largest number that I've seen per state and that's according to the Small Business Administration. I just looked that up the other day, it's crazy. It's remarkable because growing up, I lived in Maryland and, you know, was not really around many small businesses. I think, when you go and get a full-time gig, it's very corporate or its government and I worked in both for a long time and I learned a lot from it. It got to be super dry and not fun for me anymore. When I moved here to Maine, it opened up such a big opportunity. I never thought that I would start a podcast about makers in a state that I did not grow up in, or was raised in, but it's a part of me now. I feel like I will never be labeled as a Mainer because I am not from here, I'm from away. But I really enjoy storytelling and these stories that are here in the state are amazing. They're raw, they're authentic, I don't want to touch it, I just want to leave it and I want to throw it out there. I know there's some editing in between, but each of the guests that I've had is so diverse, so skilled in what they do, and they're passionate. I want to show that to everyone. I will never close up the Makers of Maine podcast I just recently expanded to Makers of the USA. I don't know if you knew that Sara, but I just launched that a couple of days ago. But I always keep it, Maine, just because it is a brand that is untouchable. I think people need to learn about it and I think a lot of people when they think of Maine is lobsters and lighthouses and the coast and you go sailing, and I'm like, No, it's not just about that. There's a lot more to it. There are different cultures that people have no idea are connected here, including the natives that have been on this land for so long. I love talking to you and to Gabe in learning about that. Then learning more about African Americans and the Somalians that have been here too, and establishing themselves creating a brand for themselves, and being a part of the Maine community. I went to a farmers market the other day and met a lovely Asian woman who was crafting potstickers. And I really love Asian cooking. And I was like, Wow, this is amazing. I mean, that is a Maine-made product. And so it's only going to get more diverse. It's going to grow and continue to grow as more people come here because we do have a lot of folks that are of the older generations that reside here in Maine and just going to keep growing as more people come in and get to know Maine, I mean, we're a hotspot in terms of tourists, and also places to live. I'm really looking forward to more makers that come here learn about it want to be a part of the community, learn from others, because I feel like the maker community supports one another. That's what it's all about supporting each other growing your brands, growing your craft not being competitive, and we're all in it together. I feel like that is really what the Maine spirit is about. I hope that I can learn from other communities across the United States and hear about how they support one another. And maybe it isn't, you know, like Maine, maybe it's a little different, in how they go about their crafting. And that's okay, I'm just here to tell those stories, and to really get people excited about traveling and getting to know the makers behind the traveling,” said Kristan.
They’re many stories told during this interview and I hope you don’t miss out. Thank you to Maine Craft Association for sponsoring this interview and I hope Sarah Sockbeson got some good information out of it to start her own podcast.
View Sarah’s website here: http://www.sarahsockbeson.com/