thumb|[[Wyandot people|Huron quillwork moccasin]]

Quillwork is a form of textile embellishment traditionally practiced by Indigenous peoples of North America that employs the quills of porcupines as an aesthetic element. Quills from bird feathers were also occasionally used in quillwork.

History

thumb|Backside of loomed quillwork collected from an [[Plains Indians|Upper Missouri tribe by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, pre-1804. All natural dyes. Collection of the University of Pennsylvania Museum]]

Porcupine quillwork is an art form unique to North America. Before the introduction of glass beads, quillwork was a major decorative element used by the peoples who resided in the porcupine's natural habitat, which included indigenous peoples of the Subarctic, Northeastern Woodlands, and Northern Plains. The use of quills in designs spans from Maine to Alaska. Quillworking tools were discovered in Alberta, Canada and date back to the 6th century CE.

Cheyenne oral history, as told by Picking Bones Woman to George Bird Grinnell, says quilling came to their tribe from a man who married a woman, who hid her true identity as a buffalo. His son was also a buffalo. The man visited his wife and son in their buffalo home and while among the buffalo, the man learned the art of quilling, which he shared with the women of his tribe. The crafting society of the highest esteem was the Quilling Society. The quillers were a select group of elite women. Joining the Cheyenne Quilling Society was a prestigious honor for Cheyenne women. The Cheyenne believe that the highest virtue and aspiration is the seeking of knowledge. Their main spirit or deity is Heammawihio (The Wise One Above) who possesses his power through wisdom. All spirits gain power through their knowledge and their ability to share it with the people. The rituals of the crafting societies are structured with a mentor instructing an apprentice in the skills of the craft. The process and ritual that accompanied the production of these crafts (especially quilled crafts) constituted a ceremony of sacred significance. In this way the crafting societies added the additional element of acquired knowledge and experience, which the Cheyenne highly regarded and considered sacred. This would create a system where the people are seeking to possess a piece of the knowledge and skill of the crafter in tangible terms, and this creates a heightened value on the imagery itself. The craft is their act of knowledge seeking, and as such, was a sacred act. In this way, the women with more experience gained greater status in the crafting society. When a woman would become too old to continue her craft she would have a younger woman become an initiate, generally a relative, so that the craft could be passed on. Being a woman who made quillwork in the Blackfoot tribe held major importance as the few women who did quillwork would choose who would become the next to assume the craft of quillwork. After being initiated, the young woman would be expected to craft a moccasin and would then take it and place it on top of a hill as a form of offering to the sun.

The Arapaho and Odawa tribes also had religious significance for women in Quillwork as their works would represent sacred beings and connections to nature. Colors and shapes also had unique meanings allowing for diverse and unique designs carrying many cultural or religious meanings. The Odawa tribe in particular used many of the same colors as the Blackfoot tribe with the addition of white, yellow, purple, and gold.

Porcupine quills often adorned rawhide and tanned hides, but during the 19th century, quilled birch bark boxes were a popular trade item to sell to European-Americans among Eastern and Great Lakes tribes. Quillwork was used to create and decorate a variety of Native American items, including those of daily usage to Native American men and women. These include clothing such as coats and moccasins, accessories such as bags and belts, and furniture attachments such as a cradle cover.

Technique

thumb|left|140px|A quillwork knife sheath.

Quills suitable for embellishment are two to three inches long and may be dyed before use.

The quills can be flattened with specific bone tools or by being run through one's teeth. Awls were used to punch holes in hides, and sinew, later replaced by European thread, was used to bind the quills to the hides.

thumb|alt=Five porcupine quills of varying banding patterns and lengths|right|Undyed porcupine quills

The four most common techniques for quillwork are appliqué, embroidery, wrapping, and loom weaving. Appliquéd quills are stitched into hide in a manner that covers the stitches. This technique lends itself to floral designs popularized among northeastern tribes by Ursuline nuns. Huron women excelled at floral quillwork during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Plains quillwork is characterized by bands of rectangles creating geometrical patterns found also in Plains painting. Rosettes of concentric circles of quillwork commonly adorned historical Plains men's shirts, as did parallel panels of quillwork on the sleeves. These highly abstracted designs had layers of symbolic meaning.

The Red River Ojibwe of Manitoba created crisp, geometric patterns by weaving quills on a loom in the 19th century.

Today

Quillwork never died out as a living art form in the Northern Plains. Some communities that had lost their quillwork tradition have been able to revive the art form. For instance, no women quilled in the Dene community of Wha Ti, Northwest Territories by the late 1990s. The Dene Cultural Institute held two workshops there in 1999 and 2000, effectively reviving quillwork in Wha Ti.

The art form is very much alive today. Examples of contemporary, award-winning quillworkers include Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty, (Sioux-Assiniboine) artist; Dorothy Brave Eagle (Oglala Lakota) of Denver, Colorado; Kanatiiosh (Akwesasne Mohawk) of St. Regis Mohawk Reservation; Sarah Hardisty (Dene) of Jean Marie River, Northwest Territories; Leonda Fast Buffalo Horse (Blackfeet) of Browning, Montana;, Melissa Peter-Paul, Mi'kmaw of Epekwitk/Prince Edward Island, and Deborah Magee Sherer (Blackfeet) of Cut Bank, Montana.

See also

  • Hair drop, men's ornaments typically featuring quillwork

Notes

References

  • Dubin, Lois Sherr. North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment: From Prehistory to the Present. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers, 1999. .
  • Feest, Christian F. Native Arts of North America. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992. .
  • Gillow, John and Bryan Sentance (1999). World Textiles: A Visual Guide to Traditional Techniques. Thames & Hudson. .
  • Grinnell, George. The Cheyenne Indians: Their History and Lifeways. Indiana: World Wisdom, Inc, 2008.
  • Hoebel, E. A.  The Cheyennes: Indians of the Great Plains. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1960.
  • Horse Capture, John D. et al. Beauty, Honor, and Tradition: The Legacy of Plains Indian Shirts. Washington DC: National Museum of the American Indian, 2001. .
  • Marie, Suzan and Judy Thompson. "Whadoo Themi: Long-Ago People's Packsack: Dene Babiche Bags: Tradition and Revival." Canadian Museum of Civilization Mercury Series. Ethnology Paper 141. 2004: 29
  • Mooney, James. “The Cheyenne Indians.” in Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association. New York: Kraus Reprint Corporation, 1964.
  • Moore, John H. The Cheyenne. Malden: Blackwell Publishers, 1996.
  • Orchard, William C. (1916). The Technique of Porcupine-Quill Decoration Among The North American Indians. The Museum of the American Indian Heye Foundation. .
  • Penney, David W. and George Horse Capture. North American Indian Art. London: Thames & Hudson, 2004. .
  • Rubenstein, Charlotte, S. “The First American Women Artists.” Women’s Art Journal 3, no. 1 (Spring-Summer 1982).
  • Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art from the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1995. .
  • Porcupine and bird quillwork, in the collection of the National Museum of the American Indian
  • Substantial material about quillwork from nativetech.org