A stitch in time...

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If the walls of the Woodland Cultural Centre museum could talk, they would relay the conversations of women quilting in a bee, chatting with one another about important issues like family, community and culture.

Fourteen quilts from the University of Michigan's larger collection of 40 quilts hang on the museum walls, each exhibiting artistry and creativity of Indigenous women of North America. They are works of art. They tell stories. They are a part of the culture of a people. They are part of the traveling exhibition, To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions. The name of the exhibition was itself stitched into a quilt that hung on a wall.

Quilting was introduced to the Native people by Europeans when they arrived on the shores of North America. Prior to European contact, Native people did not have manufactured fabric or steel needles. However, they did have porcupine quills and moose hair and were familiar with stitching in theory.

The Native people soon learned the craft of quilting and adapted it to their own communities and cultures. They incorporated cultural symbols, history and legends into the quilts they made and making quilts became a part of Aboriginal community life.

In the beginning, quilts were used as a necessity for bed, shelter and horse coverings and shawls. Later, communities used quilts in ceremonies and when honoring individuals upon graduation, when naming a baby or returning from war.

Making quilts brought the women in the community together. The time spent making the quilt was time also spent conversing, and sharing.

Relationships grew stronger from this time spent together. Valuable information was also passed between generations around the quilting rack. Individual imagination and visions began to show up in quilts. The art of quilting began to evolve in Native communities.

Hawaiian quilts were the most intricately sewn and inspired by marine life, volcanoes, flowers and Hawaiian royalty. Most consisted of a large applique sewn onto a fabric base with thousands of short even stitches. They were identified with a particular island by certain blossoms or colours that adorned them. It was understood that the patterns created were the property of the quilter, who created them and would not be copied.

Thunderbird Star quilts were popular with Woodland Natives because the thunderbird held an important place in Woodland cosmology. The diamond shaped tapestry of the Star quilt was most common with the Plains Indians. These were sometimes referred to as the morning star design.

Indian doll quilts were popular designs with the Comanche women of Oklahoma. Variations to this design were adopted by other nations and personalized by changing the hairstyle and clothing on the doll to suit the community.

Some quilts took two to three years of a person's life to finish. When it was finally finished and given away in a ceremony, the gift became more than a gift of a blanket. It was a gift of part of a person's life.

The exhibit is also equipped with audio of women who made the quilts discussing quilting in their own words. Nancy Cougar, a Navajo and Eastern Cherokee, is the designer of the quilt titled Eagleman 1987. The decision to incorporate an eagle into her quilt is spiritual.

"We are connected to Eagle in heart and Spirit. Eagle energy carries pure prayer to the Creator. Eagle helps our spirit fly."

Quilter, Bernyce Courtney, whose quilt, Life Between Sunsets 1985, is reminiscent of basketry design, explains why she makes quilts.

"I am honoring this culture but the culture is comforting me."

Quilting was adopted, evolved, and perfected by the Native communities of North America. It took on a new and deeper meaning in the communities and cultures that embraced it. The quilting bees of the 18th century and those of today are all represented on the walls of the Woodland Cultural Centre museum in beautiful colors and thousands of stitches. Although diverse in their stories, allshared the pride of a culture in each stitch.

The history and diversity of all the quilts speak loudly to the celebration of quilting in Native communities.

To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions runs to April 28.