Pat the Porcupine: The final chapter

Some of you may recall that last November our Native Land Conservancy team was traveling in western Massachusetts visiting land in our care, when we came across a poor deceased porcupine. While many people would just drive by, we thought better of it and stopped to retrieve the animal for it’s quills that are of great value to traditional Indigenous artisans. After making an offering of tobacco for a life well lived by the animal (it was a chunky fellow) we transported “Pat” to the bed of the NLC truck.

We decided to give the animal a gender-neutral name as determining the sex of a porcupine is rather difficult without performing an autopsy which none of us were qualified to do.

Back in Mashpee Pat was skinned and the hide salted for preparation to harvest the quills before Pat was laid to rest in ceremony.

Then after a great effort to clean and sort the quills, thanks terribly much to our weekly team of volunteers at the NLC office, a two-day workshop was held for our tribal friends to learn the art of porcupine quill embroidery on deerskin.

The workshop held in early March was well attended by students who were eager to learn this skill that had been practiced historically by our ancestors to decorate clothing and baskets before glass beads were made available.

Students first learned a single row stitch and were urged to practice it on small scraps of deerskin. The quills were soaked in water to make them pliable. Choosing a quill to begin, they snipped off the end that had been plucked from the skin and then using a leather needle and artificial sinew they practiced tacking them down in pleasing arrangements. Nearing the end of a quill, another quill would be inserted by the sharp barbed tip in the hollow end of the one in progress, and so on. Mistakes were to be expected as the skill for quillwork is earned, often after stabbing oneself a few times with a quill!

Those who caught on quickly were happy to help others in what became a community of crafters.

They also were taught to do a folding stitch and use quills that had been dyed bright colors. Then each student was encouraged to use some larger pieces of deerskin to create a medicine bag to be decorated with the quills.

Everyone was so enthusiastic and it showed in the work that was done and will continue as these artisans become more skilled.

Our ancestors and Pat would be very proud!