Quilting Article

Quilting Article

THE MÉTIS WAY - Quilting on the Wheel of Life

This article will give you some insight into the rich quilting heritage within the aboriginal community. My name is Rev. Kathryn Gorman-Lovelady. In my Métis community, I am known as "Kateri Sapphire Moon". I am a quilt artisan, elder, teacher and alternative healer. With my husband Brian (who is also Métis), we run a community clinic specializing in aboriginal healing techniques, and teach the cultural, textile and spiritual traditions of the Métis Nation. We live in Southern Ontario, with 5 cats, 4 dogs, 11 llamas, one horse, and one miniature donkey. As professional artisans, we have studio space in our home for the creation of quilts, jewellery and diverse things like leather work, bead craft and drum making. Professionally, we have both worked extensively in social services, prior to opening our clinic. We are graduates of the University of Guelph - Brian with a degree in sociology, and I with a degree in psychology. I studied the "midewiwin" or sacred shamanic medicine traditions for 9 years. After university, I became a minister (now retired) and Therapeutic Touch practitioner. I taught quilting and 16 other textile related programs in the local community college for 8 years, but we prefer to teach from our space.

Teaching quilting and textile techniques within the Métis community is wonderfully rewarding. The lessons have results which go beyond technique - I am reacquainting people with their heritage. Aboriginal quilters are most readily known for beautiful designs incorporating Bethlehem or Texas Stars, but our traditions include other quilted objects. In future columns I will write about The Medicine Blanket", quilted clothing, embellishment and many other things. Some insight into the background of Métis life and history will help to show how we get the subject matter for our designs.

Our Spiritual Identity

As an elder, minister and educator, I am often asked to help individuals find that spark of belonging, that spiritual "thing" which resonates within the soul, a marker that says "I am Métis". We awaken to that connection, and begin to own it, when we understand something of the history of these people. On the surface, that statement seems obvious, but understanding Métis identity is a complex subject. Originally, it was employees of companies like Hudson’s Bay, searching for fur in the heartlands, which introduced French, Scot, Irish, Scandinavian, western and eastern European peoples to Canada. These cultures, and others, intermarried with Cree, Ojibwa, Iroquois, Ottawa, Mohawk, Algonquin and many other tribal groups, producing a wide range of rich heritages to draw on. Our non-aboriginal ancestries were varied as much as the Indian and Innu cultures. This has produced a colourful tapestry of variables which have evolved into who we are today

So what is the commonality? We are "aboriginal plus." In 1982 Métis were identified by the Constitution Act as being one of three distinct aboriginal races in Canada, along with Indian and Inuit people. Although there are many different nations that comprise our aboriginal component, we are fortunate to understand today that many First Nations traditions are the same, although the tribal groups differ. This is the component I refer to as cosmology, a collective consciousness that supersedes specific tribal orientation. It is the circle, The Wheel of Life.

The Circle of Life

The concept of the circle is universal. Many peoples connect to the circle as earth, the sun, the self. In aboriginal construct, the wheel of life is a representation of the many cycles within cycles that comprise life. We do not view life as a linear continuum, with a beginning, middle and end. Rather there is the cycle within the day -morning, afternoon, evening and night; the cycle of the seasons; the division of the earth into east, south, west and north; the 13 moon cycles in a year; the cycle of human life - childhood, young adult, middle age and senior. It is our capacity to "walk the wheel in balance", to see all things through to their completion, to grow with the learning that each cycle brings. Often we conduct gatherings, ceremonies and councils in circles. The circle represents equality and inclusiveness. For many aboriginal tribes, there is no word for "sin" - the closest concept to this is imbalance. In the quilting heritage, use of the central medallion, or mandala, can incorporate the medicine wheel themes very neatly.

Another part of the traditions Métis people embrace is the concept of all life as sacred, that we are equal to the rocks, the trees, the four-legged creatures, the flyers, the swimmers. To be in harmony with all aspects of nature, and our fellow beings, is to be in balance. It is therefore contingent upon us to respect the environment, to honour and nurture it when we have used things from the earth. And, of course, to protect the earth. Teaching our children to live in harmony and balance with the land is our continuation of the cycle of life. It becomes clear that the use of these ideas in artistic representations is second nature.

Sacred Objects

As settlers moved across the country from east to west, they brought trade goods and created settlements and partnered with native women. The children of these early families often identified with their mothers’ tribal groups, learning the aboriginal skills of hunting, trapping, and fishing. They became guides for other settlers and explorers who followed, going deeper into the Canadian wilderness in search of fur pelts. The language evolved into a blend of French, native tongues, and a smattering of English, known as "Michif’. These early Métis became prized guides, bridges between the aboriginal and European cultures. The early costume of the Métis included a "capote", or European style coat made out of hide, and heavily decorated with beads and quillwork. The woven sash was worn for many reasons; it could lash your canoe, like a rope, for a portage. It acted like a scarf, and the colour helped identify your allegiance. Horns were used to carry tobacco or gun powder; there were tall hide boots with beadwork and fur. Often, the men carried either a heavily beaded tobacco pouch, or a shoulder bag, called an "Octopus pouch", significant for the bead and quill decoration. These were used like aboriginal medicine bags, carrying objects for healing and ceremony. Many men wore a top hat, adorned with ribbons and feathers - similar, but not exactly like their aboriginal ancestors. The Métis outfit became identified with the voyageurs in the 18th century. What Métis people wore was not exactly native nor European, but a blending, and evolution of both styles.

Today, we identify ourselves with the sash, as a visible reminder of the trailblazing our ancestors did. We honour what our animal brothers and sisters teach us by using their skins, feathers, bones and quills on outfits or bags. It is a sign of respect to use these objects, not just dump them. It allies us with the old traditions of what the animals can show us. This is the concept of "Animal Medicine" - medicine in this context meaning "teaching". One way we show respect is with the eagle feather. Eagles have been identified with wisdom, as emissaries of the Creator. Their vision is so acute, that they can see many things we cannot. In other words they see the larger picture. Eagle feathers are prized by many aboriginal communities for use in ceremony and for adornment on clothing. Métis men put them on their hats, and they were given as a sign of respect to elders. Even today, if an eagle feather falls from the sky in the middle of a circle or ceremony, it is considered one of the most sacred signs of blessing. The eagle feather is used to brush through the field around a person’s body, to clear unseen energies, and to help the smoke from sage or Sweetgrass "fly" to the Creator with our prayers.

We also have a flag, with the infinity sign - it is the symbol that we are a bridge between two cultures, tying them together for infinity. Corn and tobacco are still considered objects of reverence, as well as utility. The drum, another representation of the circle, makes the sound of the heartbeat. Many aboriginal cultures use the drum to celebrate, and to induce the trance-like connection needed to commune with the spirits in the dreamtime. Métis have used both the drum, and the fiddle introduced by French, Irish and Scottish settlers, to create music with a distinct flair. In all ways we are evolving the traditions of our ancestors into our own.

Today, there are Métis who worship as Catholics, Protestants, Baha’i and with aboriginal traditions. Different regions of the country certainly evolve ethnocentric variances. How we as individuals come to celebrate our distinct culture is a matter of comfort and preference. Some Métis accept the teachings of their immediate family groups; others seek and commune with Métis celebrating different traditions. None are more correct than any other. It is allowing our vibrant artistic visions to grow, which spark a sense of recognition, a feeling of "rightness", a sense of Métis identity that makes the heart and soul sing.

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