As a co-founder and president of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance, she tutored young people in the traditional craft and also educated four generations of her own family.

For a few years she would spend the day making baskets, then work on the night shift at a wool factory, and come home to serve her children their breakfast.

[4] When Parker was older and her creations more well-known, she used basket weaving to support her family, buy a home, and contribute to paying for her grandchildren's education.

[6] As a co-founder and president[2] of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance, Parker had the opportunity to tutor apprentices.

[4] One of her apprentices and grandchildren, Geo Soctomah Neptune, continues the tradition of basket weaving "with her in mind".

[7] Parker was the first woman to serve as lieutenant governor of Indian Township, one of the two governing bodies of the Passamaquoddy tribe.

[2] In the 1990s she operated a restaurant called Molly's Luncheonette, which offered "classic American diner food along with Passamaquoddy specialties like hulled corn soup, stewed muskrat and fry bread".