Welcome to the Native American Arts Area
of the Common Ground Country Fair!

Drummers and Burnurwurbskek Singers perform in the Native American Arts & Education Tent at the Fair. Photo courtesy of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance (MIBA).

Members of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance organized this area of the Fair to help preserve the basketmaking traditions of the Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Tribes of Maine. The area also promotes other native artwork and culture such as beadwork, woodcarvings, moose hide drums, birch bark, and beaded and quill jewelry, and presents Native American drumming and singing in native Wabanaki languages. In addition to the arts, Native American area is interested in promoting Native American Businesses that utilize traditional formulas based on cultural values, adapted to modern day production and that meet the goals and objectives of MOFGA by encouraging the revival of agriculturally-based rural communities. Dancers demonstrate both traditional and newer styles of native dancing and dress. The area seeks to promote a better understanding and appreciation of Maine Native people and culture through educational displays with historical references.