New Acquisition: Contemporary Mohican Basketry
We are thrilled to showcase the art and research of Donna Hogerhuis! An enrolled citizen of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans, Donna has spent years researching Mohican basketry collections in museums and private collections throughout the East Coast and in the Hudson Valley and the Capital Region of New York.
Donna’s basket (NYSM E-2025.09) highlights several features of Mohican basketry: the circular stamp design, the deep red-stained splints, and the alternating thickness of splints with thinner pieces at the top and bottom of the basket. The design elements on historic baskets have symbolic meanings that tangibly connect Donna and the citizens of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans to their ancestors and territories.
As part of the NYSM Contemporary Indigenous Art Collection, Donna’s basket represents an enduring relationship between the NYSM and the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican community as we continue to steward a collection of historic Mohican baskets under guidance from the Nation.