Born: 3 August 1930, United States
Died: 2 August 2016
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Clara Neptune
The following is republished from the National Endowment for the Arts. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Clara Neptune Keezer was born on the Passamaquoddy tribal land of Pleasant Point (Sipayik) in Perry, Maine. The Neptune family was known for basketmaking and for leading the Passamaquoddy tribe for more than 200 uninterrupted years prior to her birth. Clara Neptune learned to make baskets from her grandmother and mother, weaving her first basket at the age of eight. She worked with the preferred materials of Maine basketweavers, split brown ash and sweetgrass, to fashion both utility and fancy baskets. Although basketweaving was experiencing a decline in Maine in the 1950s, Keezer became involved in the revitalization of the basketweaving tradition. Not content to replicate old forms exclusively, she began building on the tradition of the strawberry basket. Her baskets appeared in many touring exhibitions, including the influential Lost and Found Traditions: Native American Art 1965-85. Ralph T. Coe, curator of that exhibit, said “Clara Keezer is the finest splint craftswoman I met in the Northeast.” Today, she continues basketweaving and teaching young people her skills. She has made innovations to the strawberry basket tradition, weaving a cornucopia of brightly colored vegetable and fruit baskets that have become popular among community members, as well as museums and basket collectors.