David Lenora

Lenora David (Waben)
Micmac/EEL CLAN
Lenora’s & Ida’s Sewing
Route 37
Akwesasne, NY 13655

Lenora David began life in New Brunswick, Canada, in log cabins built by her dad along the Ontario railroad lines. Her father worked full time cutting firewood for steam engines but somehow found time to make hampers and laundry baskets. Lenora’s mother also made baskets. When she was a young girl, her father was taken away by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and never seen again. Her mother was forced to make a new life and Lenora was sent to Cornwall, Ontario to be raised in an orphanage. Later, she moved to Akwesasne, married a Mohawk man and raised thirteen children, making sure that her children learned about basket making.
For many years, Lenora David worked at the Levi Strauss factory in Cornwall sewing back pockets for blue jeans. She remains an accomplished seamstress, making outfits, including ribbon shirts, for all her children and 52 grandchildren. Today, she specializes in making miniature baskets, thimbles and lacrosse sticks sold at the Akwesasne Museum and at Lenora’s & Ida’s Sewing on State Route 37, Akwesasne.