By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — An all-ages crowd of approximately 50 gathered at the new Micmac Farmers’ Market to celebrate the growing season and Micmac culture on July 23 and judging from the smiles, laughter and enthusiasm of participants, the event didn’t disappoint.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Rachel Drost, left, watched closely while Crystal Martinelli worked on her basket at the Micmac Farmers’ Market on Saturday.
“Smell this!” youths said to each other, simultaneously thrusting handcrafted baskets they’d just made under each other’s noses. The fragrance they were so excited to share was sweet grass, woven into their baskets as an aromatic addition to the aesthetic yet practical trade.
Though participation in the time-honored art of basket-making is on the decline, there were at least 20 youths at the market on Saturday who won’t be forgetting their teachings any time soon.
Master basket-makers David and Donna Sanipass are two reasons why the students paid such close attention to their lessons; they exuded an energetic air of knowledge as they taught students the ins and outs of the craft and led the group in celebration after each participant finished their basket.
David’s mother, Mary Sanipass, an Elder of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs, attended the event with her family to help teach the trade to the next generation of youths. A master basket-maker (to say the least), she’s been perfecting the craft since she was 16 and her hands reflected her mastery — there were no wasted motions or tentative pauses while she worked. 
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Mimiques Joseph, 13, proudly displayed the produce she’d pulled from the ground on July 23.
Her great-granddaughter Mimiques Joseph, 13, worked across from Mary and while the teenager isn’t a master basket-maker herself, she clearly portrays the Sanipass inclination for the tradition passed down through the family by their ancestors.
While there was no shortage of basket-making knowledge at the Micmac Farmers’ Market on Saturday, there seemed to be a shortage of pea pods; no sooner than employees of the market could fill the basket back up with the sweet legumes, customers would happily purchase the produce — and so the cycle perpetuated itself.
Most produce is actually half priced if customers want to pick it themselves, (excluding things like strawberries).
Since the beginning of the harvest, the market has seen anywhere from 10 to over 30 customers a day, and the most common questions they ask cashier Moinaptok Paul is “will you be open year-round?”
“Yes, but not this winter,” Paul tells them.
The market’s inventory on Saturday included superior and red potatoes, snow peas, beet greens, jams, pickled items and — of course — the pea pods.
After the basket-making lessons had concluded, intern Tony Sutton, a master’s student of the University of Maine, led the energetic kids on a picking excursion in the fields behind the market.
Starting with snow peas and moving toward the beets and potatoes, Sutton taught the youths the right way to harvest produce.
Like when the group came upon the rows and rows of beets, Sutton calmly dissuading the youths from reaching down and yanking all the greens from the top of the soil.
“We leave a couple of greens so that the beets can grow to be big beets,” he explained.
“Ohhh…” a youth or two replied.
The Micmac Farmers’ Market, on U.S. Route 1 near the Caribou-Presque Isle line, is open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Additional information can be obtained by calling 764-1972.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Emma Patterson picked a beet that was “bigger than your fist!” she told Moinaptok Paul, a cashier at the Micmac Farmers’ Market. He tested her claim by holding up his fist for comparison.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Master basket-maker Mary Sanipass, an elder of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs, adds the finishing touches on a basket. Her great-grandaughter, Mimiques Joseph, 13, works on her own basket at back, left.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Master basket-maker David Sanipass demonstrated his skill in pounded brown ash log into strips for basket making. The process of preparing the wood for basket weaving is extremely complex and Sanipass, demonstrating the skill he’s learned since he was a child, made it look much easier than it really is.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Mackenzie Rossignol, of Woodland, diligently crafts her basket as Alexis Paul, from New Sweden, provides a little instructional input. They were among the roughly 20 participants who crafted baskets under the guidance of master basket-makers of the Sanipass family at the Micmac Farmers’ Market on July 23.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Mackenzie Rossignol, of Woodland, diligently crafts her basket as Alexis Paul, from New Sweden, provides a little instructional input. They were among the roughly 20 participants who crafted baskets under the guidance of master basket-makers of the Sanipass family at the Micmac Farmers’ Market on July 23.
