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SECTION H / Saturday, auguSt 21,2010 TELEGRAPHJOURNAL.COM

AdAm HurAs/TelegrApH-JournAl Examples of Poirier’s finished product aredisplayedinthe boutique she runs out of her home in Cocagne.

AdAm HurAs/TelegrApH-JournAl AtMarcia Poirier at her home studio in Cocagthne, whereshe turns theehrough wampum shells she finds on the beaeach into intricate pieces of jertwelry and sculpture.

AdAm HurAs/TelegrApH-JournAl Marcia Poirier and her husband Dave Francis. Dave bought of hercraft Marcia an amateurjeweller’s kit after she picked up her first wampum shell nearly adecade ago. Design Marcia Poirier’swampumshell jewelrybegan as afun project butgrewintosomuchmore: athrivingbusiness, acreativeoutletand,mostimportantly,the source of adeepbondbetween theartisan andher husband

Kyle Mullin friends, and it just kept on from there.” gift shop.Now she now makes 55 pieces Forthe telegrAPh-JournAl Thatwas nearly 10 years ago.Within a aweek forthere alone,compared to her few years she had her own business,Wild- total initial weekly output of 50. Marcia Poirier’spulse racedatthe sound about Wampum (www.wildaboutwam- The abundanceoforders helped Poirier of the rising tide.For the first time,she pum.com), selling ,, perfect her craft. had found her heart. tiny statues and other trinkets all carved First,she buffs the shell’severy nook As the chilly,foaming seawater lapped from the violet-striped quahogshell. The and cranny with glinting sand- against her toes,rings of gleaming pur- pretty gems litter the beach near ers.Then she drawsthe designs the vend- ple stripes popped amongst the endless Poirier’shome in Cocagne,ahamlet be- ors request –usually ,stars and identical grains of sand. tween Shediac and Bouctouche. hearts –onto the shell to guide her cut Marvelling at the symmetrical curves Along with aboutique at her home and with adiamond drill bit. thatmade it look likeavalentine,she workshop,and about 20 shops across “But youcan only makesomany of the rushed to scoopupthe little shell. NewBrunswick thatcarryher work, same hearts and stars without wanting Poirier knewinstantly thatwith alittle Poirier’screations aresold south of the to stick thatdiamond drill bit in your crude cutting she could transform it into border,inGeorgia, Florida and NewEng- own head,”Poirier said, laughing.“That’s aheart-shaped .But she had no land. Jeweleryshops as farawayasFort why Iallow myself one playday aweek idea it would become her obsession over McMurray,Alta., regularly ordership- to just experiment with anew design – the next decade. ments of wampum from Poirier because whether it’s awampum HarleyDavidson “It put the ‘ugh’inugly,” she said of the theshellsshe digs in NewBrunswick are motorcycle sculptureoranew kind of first pieceofjeweleryshe made out of of such rich shade of purple due to the .” the coveted wampum shell.“I had made high mineral concentration of the Bayof Little did Poirier know when she started the most pathetic little heartout of it just Fundy. stringing those shells into necklaces she AdAm HurAs/TelegrApH-JournAl forfun, but people thought it was cute. Poirier’sjewelerybecame the top-sell- was adding anew link to an age-old trad- Dave Francis sands apiece of his wife’s jewelry. Soon my Mom wanted one,then afew ing localproduct at the Hopewell Rocks ition. As her creations began to sell she researched the wampum, only to find it was onceused as currency between AfterPoirier was captivated by her first “When she first told me it’d be easy aboriginal communities along North heart-shaped shell nearly adecade ago, to see the shape of aheartbycutting it America’seastern shoreand, later,with her husband, Dave Francis,bought her out,Ithought if she could perfect (that) European settlers. an amateur jeweller’skit. it would be something special. Because As Poirier delved deeper into endless “Not everyone who wanders is lost, in this dayand age everything gets cop- online articles about the shells,she came but I’d always been artsyand content to ied so much, people would love atruly to find out apurple wampum was floatabout forinspiration withoutany unique pieceofjewellery.” onceworth 20 shillings and thatManhat- real direction in my life,”she said.“Dave While his wifewas the creativedriver, tanIsland had oncebeen purchased for encouraged my love forthese shells,and Francis brought good business sense. 28 pounds of the gleaming violet beads. he helped me find focus by supporting “Artists areknown to be flighty, and “The funny thing is it didn’t become me,byrunning the business side of our that’s not necessarily abad connotation,” currency until the Europeans realized shop andhelping me figureout how to he said.“But theyoften aren’t wired the how much the beads wereprized by the sell this kind of jewelery. right waytobebusiness people.When natives,” Poirier said. “I owe all of this to him.” an artist works on something it’s hardfor “It wasn’t so material forthem. The na- Francis said he was happy to indulge his them to objectively priceit, because they tives sawwampum as something spirit- wife’sinspiration, especially as he had an know how much theyput into it and how ual. Treaties weremade with the trading inkling of its potential from the start. much it’s worth to them, even though of wampum belts.Loved ones draped When his wifefirst presented the shell the public might not paythatmuch forit their elderswith these beads before they and the notion of making something of just yet. Ihelp Marcia find the right bal- entered the afterlifetoshow thatthey it on thatbeachsomany years ago,he ancesowecan sell alot more.” wereloved and respected, and wampum immediately sensed people could be cap- As theypondered cutting acrooked was also used to sanctify wedding vows.” tivated by such creations.Maybe it was heartout of asimple shell theyalso In away,wampum helped strengthen the waythe violet stripes shone in the began carving out aniche business,one AdAm HurAs/TelegrApH-JournAl herown marriage,especially after are- setting sun, or maybeitwas his wife’sim- Poirier proffers aplayful frog pendant she made from local wampum shell. cent near-brush with death. passioned tone. Pleasesee → craft, H2