Browse Exhibits (27 total)
Four Views of a Turtle Shell Pouch
This turtle shell pouch was made in 1991 in Carp Lake, MI by Odawa maker Carolyn Beck. It is made out of an 11” x 11.5” snapping turtle shell containing a sewn doeskin pouch with a blue felt inner lining on the interior shell. The shell is adorned with plaited quills, meaning the quill work looks woven. Red and white plaited quills trace the inner edge of the shell, and yellow, red, and green quills are used to create the flower in the center. Doeskin fringe hangs 26” long from the bottom of the shell with groupings of red and black, and yellow and black beads. A collection of 31 deer toes are attached to the end of each doeskin fringe. A strip of doeskin dressed in black, yellow, and red plastic beads serves as a strap, attached at two points to the top of the shell (MSU Museum 1991).
The Odawa are one of the Three Fires of the Anishinaabe people of the Great Lakes Region, who also include the Ojibwe and Potawatomi.
Four Views of a Victorian Woven Purse
This enigmatic basket is made of black ash splints for the body and basswood fibers for the details. The maker and intended purpose of this basket are largely unknown. The purse-like structure and Victorian-style detailing speak to the influence of Western femininity on indigenous women.
Four Views of an Octagonal Birchbark Box
The box was created in 1900 by an unknown Odawa artist in Harbor Springs, Michigan. The box is a 5 ½ inch octagon and is composed of 8 birch bark panels, a circular bottom, and a removable lid. Each panel is embellished with inlaid with a porcupine quillwork of a white flower with branching stem and leaves. The lid is similarly adorned, with a larger, more intricate flower design. The panels are held together with sweetgrass supported by a black thread (MSU Museum n.d.)
Four Views of Fire Keepers Barrette
Created by Linda Topash Yazel, this barrette is 5.75" by 2.75" at widest point with orange, lavender, clear, white, brown, and yellow beading. The backing of the barrette is a gold metal, with all of the beading being on the front over leather. The elongated portion of the barrette features a design on half of a flame which is cut by a quill running down the length of the barrette. The flame is surrounded by white beading of yellow, brown, clear, orange, and lavender, and has 5 quills surrounding these beads. Parallel to this design is a series of quills running vertically. On the right end of the barrette is orange and black beading, each as a very slight "V" shape running inside one another. This same affect is seen to the left end of the oval portion with the colors red, lavender, yellow, and black. On the left end of the barrette there is a circular bullseye with clear, brown, lavender, orange, and yellow beading. In the center three dangling quill and bead pieces hang, each consisting of two quills with beads at the end. Finally, the whole of the barrette has an edge of beading that is clear and brown circling around it.
Four Views of Knife and Sheath
These are the four views of "Knife and Sheath", made and formally owned by Mary Wemigwase. The Four views that will be discussed is the Intent of Production, Federal Recognition, Building of Knife and Sheath, and Cultural Impact.
Four Views of the Lady Slipper Quill Box
This quill box, crafted in 1998 by Anishinaabe maker Mildred Aguonie of Manitoulin Island, was obtained by the MSU Museum through a donation of quill boxes from the collection of Katherine C. Vail. The round box stands 3 1/2" tall with a diameter of 8 1/2". The top and side faces are covered with quills woven on a birch barch underlay, and sweetgrass rims the seams. The top face depicts the lady slipper flower using dyed quills arranged with the tufting technique, providing a raised image. The inside of the box features a sale-slip from the intial purchase (MSU Museum, 2017).
Quill Box
The quillbox is truly a work of thoughtful hard work, and has resulted in an incredibly beautiful art piece.
On the interior of the box there is a lining placed inside that supports the birch bark perimeter and siding, this not only offers support but hides where the quills are naturally attached to the bark, making the inside look uniform, composed of all one material.
On the top of the box a rabbit is depicted scampering surrounded with a brown scalloped border the alternating colors of the quills, white and brown alternating to create the form of the rabbit and the shading to create the dimension and movement.The sides are semi continuous with rounded corners, there is a continual motif of a rabbit scampering around showing the different illustrations showing the rabbit in different stages of moment the differing colors showing the shadows hitting the rabbit and indicating movement and change in shape as the rabbit moves. The bottom of the sides has the same scalloped detailing as the top lid. The top of the side has a rim of sea grass lining and so does the edge of the basket.
The following discussion will look at four in depth and descriptive views of Yvonne Walker Keschik's Quill Box featuring a running rabbit motif. The four views that will be discussed here will be Environmental respect and resources, Intergenerational Knowledge and it's important to the Indigenous community's health, Art as resistance, and the origins and future of Quillwork.
The photography for this exhit has come from Michigan State University Museum's collection, and was photographed by Pearl Yee Wong in 2017.