'Bringing quillwork back': Ojibway artist breathes new life into traditional artform

CTV National News: Keeping quillwork art alive A First Nations woman is keeping alive a traditional Indigenous art form involving intricate quillwork. Creeson Agecoutay reports.

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — While most artists go to their local art supply store for their materials, Amber Waboose heads deep into the forest behind her home – and if she hasn't recently been gifted a porcupine, she has to go searching for one of those too.

Waboose’s designs using porcupine quills are eye-catching, intricate and detailed. When she does decide to put some of her rare work up for sale on her Etsy page, it's typically bought in less than 20 minutes.

“Especially the traditional Ojibway floral designs, bees, birds or strawberry designs. I sold my art all over Turtle Island and Australia [to] people who appreciate quillwork earrings, medallions, pins and broaches – I just haven’t made a hat yet,” Waboose, who is from the Batchewana First Nation near Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., told CTV National News.

Her quillwork includes traditional Ojibway designs of strawberries, flowers and the animals around her, but she is also inspired by pop culture. Other pieces feature designs from Star Wars, Marvel, Dragon Ball Z and the Legend of Zelda.

She treats her artwork as a hobby, and doesn’t want to take orders for fear it might one day feel like a job, but at the same time she doesn’t keep her art and sells it for others to admire.

“I try not to keep anything, but I’m always thinking about what I can do next, how I can challenge myself more, and how I can become a better artist,” said Waboose.

Waboose says she comes from a long line of artists within her family, and has been painting since she was young. She only started quillwork three years ago, after learning about her Ojibway language and culture through classes where local knowledge keepers and elders would teach her how to work with quills.

“One class I went to, the elder had all the materials for quillwork and the instructions in how to do it. She introduced it to me, and after that I was so fascinated by the art and the history of it, I just started collecting all my own materials,” she said.

Those materials include birch bark and sweet grass, for which she goes on walks in her own backyard, deep in the forest, as well as the often-elusive quills.

“I’m always on the lookout for porcupine roadkill. When I find one, I pick it up off the road and bring it home, pick and clean the quills off by hand, I wash the quills with warm soapy water and then when that’s done I will dye them and then sort them all by size. It usually takes me a day or two. The best time to harvest quills is in the late summer because if you do it too early there will be water in the quills,” she said, adding it’s also important to make sure the quills dry properly so they don’t grow any mould.

To colour the quills, Waboose has multiple ways to dye them, including using Kool-Aid. She hopes to learn how to create natural dyes one day.

Waboose says one piece of quillwork can use anywhere between 10 to 600 quills, and it can take five to 20 hours to make one piece, depending on the size and the amount of detail.

Lucia Laford, a family friend of Waboose as well as an artist and Indigenous arts educator, says that Waboose is "bringing quillwork back" as part of a larger renaissance of the artform.

“She is keeping that tradition alive, and she’s doing it in such a beautiful way. I think it’s a hard practice and its labour-intensive and it requires a lot of skill, and Amber is incredibly skilled in that. I’m always captivated by the bright colours that she uses, all of it is just very eye-catching and all of her designs are just so intricate. A lot of people in the community look up to her,” Laford said.

Laford’s late father – longtime Ojibway artist John Laford from Manitoulin Island – also inspired Waboose’s work along the way including more painting techniques. He passed away last November.

“My dad bought one of her paintings two weeks before he died, and he was so proud to have it. As he said … ‘Every Indigenous person should pick up the brush or at least try pick up the brush,’” said Laford.

Waboose says she will continue to make quillwork while inspiring the next generation.

“Quillwork is an important part of Indigenous culture," she said

"It’s one of the oldest art forms on Turtle Island, invented by the Indigenous people. It was practised more back then and when beads were introduced, quillwork was not practised as often, but now it’s being revitalized by a lot of young artists.”