10/24/2024
The humble porcupine has been providing Indigenous artists across the North American continent the material to create works of art both beautiful and utilitarian for generations. The sharp, needle-like quills that grow on porcupines were among the first materials used to decorate clothing and then so much more.
Quills have to be pulled from the hide, washed, dyed, dried, sorted by size, and then softened in the mouth and flattened before they can be wrapped or woven to create detailed designs. The Mi’kmaw community, the original inhabitants of what are now the Atlantic provinces of Canada and parts of the Northeastern US, is well-known for its quillwork. Historically, Mi’kmaw women have passed on the traditional knowledge of this art, and for some communities, the practice of quillwork holds spiritual power and importance.
October is Mi’kmaw History Month, and we invite you to learn more about "Home to Mi’kma’ki," our decades-long collaboration with the Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre in Nova Scotia. This wall pocket is one of the items that will return to the community once the physical space is ready. In the meantime, we've been working together to care for and learn about the Mi’kmaw belongings in our collections. One practitioner estimated it could have taken six months and may have required multiple artists to complete. Quill artist Crystal Gloade pointed out how this time would have included the processing of raw materials such as the quill, sweet grass, and birch bark. Gloade suggested that the uniformity of quill size across the wall pocket reflects the painstaking process of carefully sorting and selecting porcupine quills. Community practitioners shared that this piece was made using an insertion technique, and that Mi’kmaw quill workers do not traditionally soften quills in the mouth as part of preparing materials. Learn more on our blog. https://s.si.edu/3C5sbsV
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Mi’kmaw (Micmac) quilled birchbark wall pocket, ca. 1880-1900. Nova Scotia; Canada. Dyed, stitched, quill embroidered birchbark, porcupine quills, dyes, sweetgrass, spruce root, sinew. 57.50 x 35.20 x 10.20 cm. 11/1318
