She is a member of the Penobscot nation, and the great-granddaughter of the well-known weaver Philomene Saulis Nelson.
[2] When apprenticing with basketmaker Madeline Tomer Shay, Secord learned that at the time she was one of few young Wabanaki people being taught to make brown ash and sweet-grass baskets.
[3] After Shay's death, Secord founded MIBA in 1993 as a way to preserve Wabanaki language and culture.
[4] In 2003, the MIBA received the International Prize for Rural Creativity in part for lowering the average age of basketmakers in Maine from 63 to 43.
[6] She is the great niece of the renowned Penobscot dancer, actress and writer Molly Spotted Elk, and her great-grandmother is Philomene Saulis Nelson, considered an "acclaimed weaver.