Materials
The materials used to create this box are birch bark for the base and lid, naturally dyed porcupine quills for the designs and decorations, and sweetgrass for trimmings on the lid and bottom of the box. The maker places a heavy importance on nature in her life and collects most of the materials she uses herself. It has been increasingly difficult for materials used to make quill boxes, as there has been a major increase in global climate change. When the climate changes both plants and animals are affected; plants’ growing seasons can shift and shorten and animals can have their habitats forcefully moved. These make it more difficult for a maker, such as Delia Beboning, to collect the resources she needs to continue her traditional craft.
Delia Beboning also stresses a need for understanding how and when to collect the materials. In an interview conducted in 1985, she discussed the different timings and techniques for collecting; these included how it is only safe to collect small amounts of birch bark from a tree at one time, as well as when it is best to collect sweetgrass and the quills from porcupines (The Manitoulin Expositor 1985).