Molly Molasses

MOLLY MOLASSES

Mixed Media Drawing and Story

by Jason K. Brown

Molly Molasses was a Wabanaki Indian from the Northern Woods of Maine. She was said to be a powerful medicine woman of her time and there have been many stories written about her. She was born in a Penobscot camp where the old water tower now stands in present day Bangor, Maine. She grew up in the 1800’s, living the Wabanaki way and traveling up and
down our river that shares our name. Molly Molasses was what the white
people of the Bangor area called her because they said she was so sweet. Molasses was the sweetest thing the people could get at that time.

Much was written about her as an elder with the powers
that she possessed. These gifts were handed down through her family and
aren’t anything that I can really describe properly in words. The white
people of the area knew of her powers. Some respected her abilities but
others mocked her. They soon found out that this old Indian woman was
not fooling around. She was said to be able to hex a person who wronged
her with a mere glance. She was also known as a great healer who helped
many people in a time when there was no modern medicine. I like to
believe that the powers she possessed would still stun the modern
medical community.

This drawing is based on a historical black and white
photograph of Molly Molasses. It is done in mixed media, utilizing
colored pencils and chalk pastels. It
represents Molly Molasses and the “Little People,” known in the
Penobscot language as Mikum-wasus (mee-kgum-waz-zus). I have been told
by my elders that the Little People were all powerful medicine people
or Medowlinu(meh-dow-len-oo). We learned a lot of what we know about
medicine from these magic people and they helped us when we needed
their power. As a medicine woman, Molly Molasses may have gone to the
little people to help her and give her strength.

The Mikumwasus on Molly’s knee is teaching her the
sacred and ancient songs and dances that control the elements and her
environment. This gift allows her to look inside a person and see their
ailment and remove it, taking it into her own body. The Mikumwasus must
also teach Molly the songs to get rid of the ailment from her own body
for if she doesn’t, she may be stuck with it for a long time and become
ill herself. The Mikumwasus on Molly’s shoulder is whispering things to
her that you and I will never know or understand.

The birch bark medicine lodge at Molly’s feet represents
the strength and importance of the element fire as it warms and
protects our homes. It lights our nights and cooks our foods and is
always given the proper respect and treated as sacred.

The lake that Molly sits near is at the base of the
Penobscot’s sacred mountain. It is called Mt. Katahdin (ka-tah-dun) and
is located in what is now Baxter State Park, just outside of
Millinocket, Maine. This is the tallest mountain in Maine and has the
honor of being the first thing the sun’s rays hit in the morning when
rising over the United States. This is the reason why the indigenous
peoples of the Maine area are called “Children of the Dawn.” We welcome
the sun every morning and send it on its long journey to bring warmth
and life to the other people of this country. If you look closely, you
can see that the mountain merges through Molly’s face, thus
representing her connection to the earth. In our oral history, Mt.
Katahdin is the place where Klouscap, the first man, built his lodge
and where he has retired until we need him to help us again.

In the sky above Molly is the representation of an eagle
with a salmon in it’s clutches. This shows the life of the river we
live on and our connection to it and to the Creator. We fished the
waters for salmon just as the eagle did, and the eagle is considered
the most sacred animal. By acting like the eagle, we, too, become
sacred.

In the other part of the sky you will see a
representation of the caribou which were once very abundant in Maine.
With the introduction of Anglo people to the area, the caribou were all
killed off in Maine and are now extinct. In the same way, my people
have stood on the cliff of extinction, looking with fear in their eyes
over the edge. We made the conscious choice to fight our way back from
the edge of that cliff and to never look back at it again. The caribou
represent a time gone by, just as many aspects of our culture have
vanished. The only thing that is important to remember is that we still
know who we are and we still exist. We live so that our children will
not forget, and in that way, we will never die