Dreams of Indian Island is a portrait of Molly Molasses (c. 1775 – 1867), or Mary Pelagie (or Balassee) Nicola, a Penobscot medicine woman of the Bear Clan. Her name “Molasses,” may have been a nickname, or a corruption of Pelagie or, as she claimed it was given to her, "cuz she’s sweet," though not everyone agreed with that characterization.
Among other things, Molly was a basketmaker. Though much has been written about her healing powers, which she used to help many of her people in their time of need, there were those who believed that she could also put a hex or spell on someone who wronged her with just a glance. "If she said you would die," one Indian told Fanny Hardy Eckstorm, "you would die."
In Dreams of Indian Island, Molly proudly displays a beaded bag and by so doing proclaims to all that “we are still here!”