7 minute read
FROM INGENIOUS ADAPTATION TO INTRICATE ART
For newcomers and long-time residents alike, a sighting of the Catskill’s iconic “quilled pig” is a rare treat. A slow moving rodent equipped with 30,000 spiky quills, porcupines are also an owl’s snack, a dog owner’s nightmare, and a traditional material for Indigenous artists.
Long before Europeans arrived in what is now New York State, Algonquin and Iroquois/Haudenosaunee peoples lived as keen observers of the native flora and fauna. The Mohawk word for porcupine, anêntaks, translates to “bark eater,” a reference to the 35-pound rodent’s penchant for munching the inner bark of trees, twigs, and buds. More unusual dietary items include saltsaturated canoe paddles, garden tools, outhouse walls, and on a few wintery occasions, even car tires and brake lines!
A Seneca Iroquois tale from 1926 describes how porcupine’s original coat was gray and soft, putting him at the mercy of bobcat and bear who bullied their fellow forest dweller. In exchange for a favor, fox suggests that porcupine roll in some moist mud. Fox then gathered and stuck thorns from a hawthorn tree into the mud, giving the good natured porcupine his distinct and sharply barbed coat and gaining the respect of his foes.
Unlike their amusing portrayal in cartoons, porcupines cannot “shoot” their quills at a predator or curious canine. The hollow quills are actually a type of stiff hair. Like the hairs on the back of a domestic dog or cat, they can be raised with muscles at the base of the quill in times of threat. Physical contact enables the loosely attached quill to pull free of the porcupine’s skin and imbed itself in its unfortunate attacker.
The barbed beasts’ quills vary in length, thickness, and color. These qualities offered a gamut of creative possibilities for Native artists. The long thick quills from the animal’s strong tail were used to block in large areas of a design surface. The less coarse quills along the back were used for loom work. The smaller, finer quills on the neck and belly lent themselves to delicate embroidery. These unique hairs, in addition to those of deer and moose, were so striking and versatile that quillwork was employed as decorative embellishment across Native America including regions in the Central Plains and Southwest where porcupines were not endemic.
Among the Plains nations, the quills were brightly dyed and applied in geometric patterns to pipe bags, cradleboards, and regalia for people and horses alike. Quillwork among the nations of the northeast also featured geometric designs. But, it would be botanical motifs inspired by ferns, vines, and flowers that would define the esthetics of this region. The wide variety and complexity of quillwork techniques observed, described, and collected is evidence that a mastery of this art was widespread among native peoples long before European Contact.
While such materials seldom preserve in the archaeological record, museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NY); Minneapolis Museum of Art (Minnesota); Ethnographic Museum of Berlin (Germany); and many others house extraordinary examples of Iroquois quillwork from the 18th and 19th centuries. Clothing, moccasins, pouches and knife sheaths from this period bore elaborately embellished surfaces.
Despite its striking appearance and likely symbolic references, the availability and convenience of imported glass seed beads gradually began to supplant quills as a decorative element. Additionally, the loss of hunting grounds through Colonial incursion produced a scarcity of raw material. By the mid-1800s, quillwork had become a rarely practiced art among the Haudenosaunee.
Today, over 200 years later, this exquisite form of Haudenosaunee expression is experiencing a small, but focused revival. Creatives Jamie Jacobs (Tonawanda Seneca) and Kiera Pyke (Akwesasne Mohawk) are two of a handful of artisans who bring these uncommon skills to bear on original, and often award-winning, works. Jamie’s interest in quillwork was first fueled by the extensive holdings of Seneca quillwork in the Rochester Museum & Science Center’s collection and the observation that few of his contemporaries still practiced this arrestingly beautiful art form. In 2012, Jamie participated in a quillwork workshop at Old Fort Niagara (Youngstown, NY) with curator and historian Michael Galban. The opportunity provided Jamie with the basics and a generous mentor in the years that followed as he expanded his knowledge and refined his technical skills.
Today, Jamie’s impeccable creations pay purposeful tribute to the stylistic vocabulary of his ancestors while incorporating contemporary elements. Each step in the lengthy preparation process is done by hand, including collecting the quills, washing, sorting, and dyeing. The quills are soaked in water before use, with the proper timing essential to their integrity and pliability. Jamie’s Seneca predecessors may have flattened their quills with tools, fingers, or even their teeth, but Jamie errs on the side of hygiene. Once soaked, his quills are flattened with the back of a spoon before being stitched onto smoked brain-tanned leather using wrapped, plaited, and embroidery techniques.
Although Jamie uses commercial dyes rather than the natural treatments used by earlier artisans, his strikingly elegant concepts are often drawn from their patterns and color palette. His creations feature geometric, scroll, and delicate floral designs conceived in red, black, yellow, light blue, green, and the natural white of undyed quills. His workmanship and dedication to his craft has garnered him private commissions and representation in the permanent collections of the New York State Museum (Albany, NY); Ganondagan State Historic Site (Victor, NY); the Rochester Museum and Science Center (Rochester, NY), and the Iroquois Museum (Howes Cave, NY).
Kiera Pyke grew up on Mohawk Nation Akwesasne near Hogansburg, at the other end of the symbolic longhouse that stretches across New York State. At age 25, Kiera has already established herself as an imaginative and highly accomplished quillworker. Not unlike Jamie, the work of her forebears serves as an inspirational jumping off point but her constructions also feature medicine plants, birds, butterflies, animals, and references to the Haudenosaunee Creation story. Her pieces include a variety of techniques: single quill plaiting, quilled edging, parallel stitch, and zigzag stitch. Each heavily quilled creation represents a new and welcome experiment as Kiera dislikes addressing the same challenge twice. Her repertoire includes colorful purses, cuffs, earrings, medallions and moccasins, each offering a different canvas on which to explore the visual and textural possibilities of her medium.
While both of these Haudenosaunee artisans are deeply connected to family and community, their art has achieved recognition for themselves and their nations thousands of miles from home. Both have earned the opportunity to share their work at Indian Art Market in Santa Fe, NM, one of the most prestigious Native art markets worldwide.
Less than an hour from Hunter, NY, the Iroquois Museum (Howes Cave, NY) celebrates these and other contemporary expressions of Haudenosaunee culture, values, and traditions. Founded on the idea that Iroquois visual and performing arts can provide a window into this dynamic culture, the Museum features changing exhibits, artist demonstrations and talks, performances, education programs, and more. On October 21 and 22, 2023 Jamie Jacobs will present a 2-day workshop on quillwork techniques. While enrollment is limited, Museum visitors are welcome to stop in to watch as space accommodates. For more information on the workshop or other activities visit the Museum’s website at Iroquoismuseum.org or call 518 296 8949.
