Mary Nelson Archambaud (born Mary Alice Nelson;
Penobscot
The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic pr ...
pronunciation: Molly Dellis; ), best known by her stage name Molly Spotted Elk, was a
Penobscot Indian dancer, actress, and writer
who was born on the
Penobscot Indian Island Reservation
Penobscot Indian Island Reservation (Abenaki: ''Álənαpe Mə́nəhan'') is an Indian reservation for the Penobscot Tribe of Maine, a federally recognized tribe of the Penobscot , in Maine, U.S.
Biography
Born November 17, 1903, on Indian Island, a Penobscot Reservation near
Old Town, Maine
Old Town is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,431 at the 2020 census. The city's developed area is chiefly located on the relatively large Marsh Island, though its boundaries extend beyond that. The island i ...
, Spotted Elk was christened Mary Alice Nelson by a Catholic priest, but the Penobscot pronounced her first and middle names Molly Dellis,
which was often shortened to Molly Dell or Molly.
Her parents were
Horace Nelson, a Penobscot political leader, and her mother
Philomene Saulis Nelson (1888–1977), an
artisan
An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...
basket maker who sold her crafts to tourists.
Her father was the first Penobscot to go to
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
. There, he studied for a year and became a governor of the tribe. Molly was the oldest of eight children. All of them helped their parents sell the famous baskets Philomene made in tourist towns. In addition to that, Molly learned traditional dances and performed for tourists who stayed at hotels.
Spotted Elk was involved in
Vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
shows at various times interspersed with her early education. She attended the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
under the sponsorship of
Frank Speck
Frank Gouldsmith Speck (November 8, 1881 – February 6, 1950) was an American anthropologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in the Algonquian and Iroquoian peoples among the Eastern Woodland Native Americans of ...
. Due to a lack of funds, she was only able to attend the prestigious college for two years, and then returned to touring, and dancing her tribe’s native dances.
[“Molly Spotted Elk.” Penobscot Cultural & Historic Preservation, www.penobscotculture.com/index.php/molly-spotted-elk. Accessed November 25, 2018.] Although she had returned to her life as a performer, she did not let this crush her spirits and she began to write and create her own music and costumes. Her family is said to have described her as “A happy and completely free spirit.”
Spotted Elk's career is marked by a tension between her desire for fame and success as an actress and performer, and the racist expectations of White American and European society that forced her to don skimpy buckskin costumes and act out stereotypes in order to do so. Returning to rural Maine after living in New York and Paris, wrote her biographer, "was like an old pair of moccasins that one dreamed of during years of high-heeled city life—only to find, upon slipping into them, that they felt less comfortable than remembered because the shape of one's feet had changed."
Her granddaughter is the
Penobscot
The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic pr ...
artist, activist and basketweaver
Theresa Secord
Theresa Secord (born 1958) is an artist, basketmaker, geologist and activist from Maine. She is a member of the Penobscot nation, and the great-granddaughter of the well-known weaver Philomene Saulis Nelson. She co-founded, and was the directo ...
.
Work life
She performed with Miller Brothers' 101 Ranch both on tour and in Oklahoma. It was as a result of winning a dance competition of Natives Americans in Oklahoma that she was adopted by the Cheyenne and given the name of Spotted Elk.
In 1926, Elk moved to New York looking for opportunities, fame, and fortune. She had different jobs to save money for school such as a nude model, dance teacher, and more.
After a lot of practice, she won a role in the chorus line of the Foster Girls. They traveled to San Antonio for eight months to perform at the Aztec. There, she decide to pursue a writing career, so when she was not dancing, she was writing poetry, adventure stories, literary fiction, and more. After the tour was done, she went back to New York where she continued working.
She starred in ''
The Silent Enemy'', a 1930 silent-film drama of American Indian life. Sometimes she worked as an artists' model; among the artists for whom she modeled was
Bonnie MacLeary.
[McBride. ''Molly Spotted Elk'' p. 305-306]
Life in Paris
In 1931, she moved to
Paris, France
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, where she found an audience for traditional Native American dance. While there, she met and married French journalist Jean Archambaud. At this time she began researching the folktales and traditions of the Native American northeast.
In 1933, the Depression affected Paris. As a result she had less opportunities to dance, and Archambaud was fired from his job. In 1934, she moved to New York where she had a few jobs; she was pregnant and gave birth there. In 1938, Elk and her daughter moved back to Paris to be reunited with Archambaud. However, their happiness lasted only a short while; the Nazis invaded and she and her daughter were separated from Archambaud. They never saw him again.
Together mother and child crossed the
Pyrenees Mountains
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...
on foot to Spain. From there they returned to the United States, where Elk spent the rest of her life on the Penobscot Reservation.
Bibliography
* Molly Spotted Elk (2003) ''Katahdin: Wigwam's Tales of the Abnaki Tribe and a Dictionary of Penobscot and Passamaquoddy Words with French and English Translation'', Maine Folklife Center, .
References
External links
* The collection of Molly Spotted Elk material formerly held at the Maine Folklife Center was transferred to
Raymond H. Fogler Library at the University of Mainein 2017.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spotted Elk, Molly
1903 births
1977 deaths
American film actresses
American silent film actresses
American female dancers
University of Pennsylvania alumni
Native American actresses
Native American dancers
People from Penobscot Indian Island Reservation
Penobscot people
20th-century American actresses
American expatriate actresses in France
Native American Roman Catholics
20th-century Native Americans
Dancers from Maine
Catholics from Maine
20th-century American dancers
20th-century Native American women