The First Blade of Sweetgrass

Summary of Book

In this Own Voices Native American picture book story, a modern Wabanaki girl is excited to accompany her grandmother for the first time to harvest sweetgrass for basket making.

Musquon must overcome her impatience while learning to distinguish sweetgrass from other salt marsh grasses, but slowly the spirit and peace of her surroundings speak to her, and she gathers sweetgrass as her ancestors have done for centuries, leaving the first blade she sees to grow for future generations. This sweet, authentic story from a Maliseet mother and her Passamaquoddy husband includes backmatter about traditional basket making and a Wabanaki glossary.

Author Biography

Suzanne Greenlaw (Orono, ME) is Maliseet and a citizen of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians. A PhD candidate in the School of Forest Resources at the University of Maine, she works to restore Wabanaki stewardship practices across various land tenure systems throughout Maine.

Gabriel Frey (Orono, ME) is Passamaquoddy and a citizen of Passamaquoddy at Sipayik. He is an awarded-winning basket maker, artist, and cultural knowledge keeper. His mother and Suzanne and Gabriel’s two daughters, Musqon and Alamossit, helped inspire The First Blade of Sweetgrass.

Illustrator Biography

Nancy Baker was raised in Houston, Texas, where she began taking art classes as a young child. At Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut, she focused on studio art and art history. At Newcomb College of Tulane University and the University of Texas, her study expanded to include art education. As a guest, she often visited old homes in the hill country of Texas and was moved by the beautiful decorative painting done by the German immigrants who had settled there. She researched their techniques and designs and began to take commissions from private clients, imitating those early craftsmen, in contemporary homes. Nancy lives and works in Thomaston, Maine and exhibits at Mars Hall Gallery in Tenant’s Harbor as well as in local businesses that generously support the arts.