The Mi'kmaq people created beautiful hand-crafted items, such as, baskets, mats, canoe paddles, hats, belts, birch bark boxes. They used porcupine quills, beads, and feathers for creating these artifacts. Nova Scotia Archives' holdings include several such items. Many of these were displayed in the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. [ Link ]

Quillwork is a traditional artform in which Mi'kmaq women used porcupine quills for embellishing clothing, birch bark canoes, baskets, and many other daily use objects. For Mi’kmaq women, making birch bark boxes with quill work was simply a way of decorating and making ordinary, everyday items more beautiful. But for the European settlers these items were exotic. In the 19th century these decorative objects became a much-coveted item and a good source of income for the Mi'kmaq people.

The process is very time consuming. The Mi'kmaq women are very proficient and do these steps with great ease. The quills are cleaned, sorted by size before use. The birch bark is perforated with an awl. The quills are used as they are (white) or dyed in different colours. They are threaded through the holes to make various colourful patterns.

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Source of information: Exploring the Mi'kmaq Culture with a Quillwork Inspired Craft ‍

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