Quillwork

Quillwork included decorated buckskin clothing, birchbark boxes, CALUMETS, knife sheaths, MEDICINE BUNDLES, PARFLECHES, drums, TIPI covers and MOCCASINS. Widespread in Aboriginal North America and highly developed among the Plains people, porcupine quill embroidery was done by women. Among the Cheyenne the club of robe quillers was a women's association.

There were four uses for using dyed porcupine quills - sewing, weaving, wrapping and pushing into tiny bark perforations - though sewing was the most common method. Quills were moistened to make them pliable and flattened by drawing them between the teeth or over the thumbnail. Thin strips of sinew were used as thread. Among older western CREE articles, quills woven with sinew strands without a hide background and then attached to the item were almost always of angular geometric design. After European contact quills were replaced by glass trade beads, and geometric designs were replaced by human and animal figures and floral designs.

Author RENÉ R. GADACZ

Links to Other Sites
Canadian Aboriginal Writing and Arts Challenge
The website for the Canadian Aboriginal Writing and Arts Challenge, which features Canada's largest essay writing competition for Aboriginal youth (ages 14-29) and a companion program for those who prefer to work through painting, drawing and photography. See their guidelines, teacher resources, profiles of winners, and more. From the Historica-Dominion Institute.

Four Directions Teachings
Elders and traditional teachers representing the Blackfoot, Cree, Ojibwe, Mohawk, and Mi’kmaq share teachings about their history and culture. Animated graphics visualize each of the oral teachings. This website also provides biographies of participants, transcripts, and an extensive array of learning resources for students and their teachers. In English with French subtitles.