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| Indigenous repair detail, Blackfoot shirt, Pitt Rivers Museum 1893.67.3 |
I work with historic First Nations and Native American material culture,
and am drawn to beaded, embroidered, and appliquéd items. They say so much
about the lives of the women who created them.
I recently found this quote by Native author Louise Erdrich that fits the
moccasins, bags, coats, leggings, and so many other things that have found
their way into museum collections so well:
“To sew is to pray. Men don't understand this. They see
the whole but they don't see the stitches. They don't see the speech of the
creator in the work of the needle. We mend. We women turn things inside out and
set things right. We salvage what we can of human garments and piece the rest
into blankets. Sometimes our stitches stutter and slow. Only a woman's eyes can
tell. Other times, the tension in the stitches might be too tight because of
tears, but only we know what emotion went into the making. Only women can hear
the prayer.”