Porcupine Quill Basket- Nova Scotia, Canada
Porcupines are not difficult animals to catch; their slow and staggering gait makes for an easy target and reliable game. As such, porcupines have been a culturally significant animal and food source to the Mi'kmaq for millennia. Porcupines have around 30,000 quills, so this medium has come to define centuries of material culture.
Before the eighteenth century, Mi’kmaq typically used porcupine quills to embellish their clothing. After 1750, however, artists expanded beyond traditional materials and made quillwork-on-bark objects for European consumers. Baskets, in particular, were a popular product and held everything from playing cards and cigars to eyeglasses and jewelry.
This basket was made over 150 years ago in the Mi’kmaq territory of Sipekne'katik, or the “place where the wapato grows.” Wapato is a tuberous plant that was historically harvested and also eaten by the area’s porcupine population. The craftsmanship behind working with quills is also noteworthy. Geometric patterns were created using aniline-dyed quills threaded through perforated pieces of bark, then sewed together with spruce root thread.
To learn about modern Mi'kmaw quillwork, listen to the podcast Epekwitk Quill Sisters hosted by quill artists Kay Sark and Cheryl Simon: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/epekwitk-quill-sisters/id1567885864.
