Sault artist keeping quillwork alive

Sault woman creating art using porcupine quills A northern Ontario First Nations woman is keeping a traditional art form alive using porcupine quills. Mike McDonald reports.

A Sault Ste. Marie artist is working to keep an old art form alive.

Amber Waboose of the Batchewana First Nation creates works of art using porcupine quills. She makes everything from boxes to earrings, using traditional and contemporary designs.

Waboose says she has been making art in one form or another since childhood. However, unlike painting, one doesn't simply go to their nearest art shop to buy porcupine quills. She says just finding the necessary supplies for quillwork is a journey in itself.

"I find my quills by picking up porcupine roadkill, or sometimes I'll be gifted a porcupine or I'll be gifted quills," said Waboose. "When I'm travelling, I'm always looking for porcupines to pick up."

Once the quills are collected, Waboose said they are washed and dyed various colours. She acknowledges quillwork is not widely practised, especially with modern materials and supplies readily available.

"When beads were introduced, quillwork wasn't practised as often," she said. "But, now it's being revitalized by a lot of young artists who are taking the time to practise it again."

Jordan Kimewon, another local artist, says he recently took up quillwork. He points out that the art form is not without its risks.

"I stuck myself with the quill about 10 times and then once with the needle," Kimewon said. "It was underneath my fingernail."

Despite the pain of learning quillwork, Kimewon says it's a form of therapy for him. Both artists say it can take hundreds of quills and many hours to complete one piece, depending on its size.

While both have sold some of their work, they say the effort is more about keeping the art form alive.