quill work
Porcupine spine craft
Quillwork is a traditional decorative craft using porcupine quills, practiced especially by Indigenous peoples of North America.
The quills are softened, dyed, and woven or stitched onto leather, birch bark, or fabric to create geometric patterns on clothing, moccasins, and ceremonial objects.
The craft predates European contact and the introduction of glass beads, which later became more common for similar ornamentation.
- porcupineBarbed defensive rodent
- Native AmericanOriginal inhabitants of America
- birchbarkWhite tree outer layer
- box elderCompound-leaved maple species
- embroideryDecorative stitching on fabric
Indigenous · craft · decorative · ceremonial · moccasins · medicine bag · rawhide · dyed · stitching · traditional · tribal · patterns · geometric · leather · baskets · Plains · Great Lakes · sinew
quill workmachine embroidery
Stitched designs made mechanically
digital printing · metalwork · woodcarving · needlepoint · cross-stitch
quill, work, quills, quilled, quilling, works, worked, working, worker