.BULL. 30] 



QUILLWORK 



341 



Olympia, July 1, 1855, and Jan. 25, 1856, 

 ceded all their lands to the United States 

 and agreed to remove to a reserve to be 

 provided for them in Washington Ter. 

 The tribe has gradually diminished until 

 now it numbers but slightly more than 

 200. They are under the jurisdiction of 

 the Neah Bay agencv. ( l. f. ) 



Kuille-pates.— Ford in H. R. Ex. Doc. 37, 34th 

 Cong., 3d sess., 103, 1857. Kwe-dee'-tut.— Gibbs in 

 Cont. N. A. EthnoL, i, 173, 1877. Kwille-hates.— 

 Ford, op. cit., 102. Kwille'hiut.— Gibbs, op. cit., 172. 

 KwiUeut.— Eellsin Am. Antiq., x, 174, 1888. Kwil- 

 leyhuts.— Stevens in H. R. Ex. Doc. 37, 34th Cong., 

 3d sess., 49, 1857. Kwilleyute. — Swan in Smithson. 

 Cont., XVI, 17, 1869: Ouileute.— Gosnell in Ind. 

 Aff. Rep., 183, 1861. ftue-lai'-iilt.— Swan, N. W. 

 Coast, 211, 1857. auellehutes.— Hay in Ind. Aff. 

 Rep., 46, 1870. ftuilahutes.— Milrov, ibid., 339, 

 1872. Guilehutes.— Ford, ibid., 1S57, 341, 1858. ftuil- 

 eutes. — Gosnell, ibid., 189, 1861. Cluil-i-utes. — 

 Kendall, ibid., 307, 1862. auillalyute.— Swan, N. 

 W. Coast, 343, 18.57. Guillajrutes. — Wiekersham in 

 Am. Antiq., xxi, 371, 1899. ftuil-leh-utes.— Treaty 

 of 1856 in U. S. Stat, at Large, xii, 10, 1863. Guil- 

 leutes. — Farrand in Mem. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., iv, 

 80, 1902. Cluilleyutes. — Simmons in Ind. Aff. Rep., 

 225, 1858. auillihute.— Taylor in Sen. Ex. Doc. 4, 

 40th Cong., spec, sess., 4, 1867. ftuilliutes.— Milroy 

 in Ind. Afl. Rep., 341, 1872. ftuilloyaths.— Browne 

 in H. R. Ex. Doc. 39, 35th Cong,, 1st sess, 21, 18.58. 



Quillwork. Embroidery worked with 

 quills of the porcupine or sonjetimes with 

 those of bird feathers. The two kinds of 

 embroidery bear a superficial resem- 

 blance. In both cases the stiffness of the 

 quill limits freedom of design, making 

 necessary straight lines and angular 

 figures. 



The gathering of the raw materials, the 

 hunting of porcupines or the cajiture of 

 birds, was the task of the men, who also 

 in some tribes prepared the dyes. Sort- 

 ing and coloring the quills, tracing the 

 design on dressed skin or birchbark, and 

 the embroidering were exclusively the 

 work of women. 



In sorting porcupine quills the longest 

 and the finest were first selected and laid 

 in separate receptacles. Another selec- 

 tion was made, and the long or fine quills 

 of the second quality were laid away. 

 The remaining quills were kept for com- 

 mon work. Bladders of the elk or buffalo 

 served as quill cases. The dyes, which 

 varied in different parts of the country, 

 were compomided variously of roots, 

 whole plants, and buds and bark of trees. 

 The quills were usually steeped in con- 

 coctions of these until a uniform color 

 was obtained — red, yellow, green, blue, 

 or black. No variegated hues were made, 

 and rarely more than one shade of a color. 

 The natural colorofwhitishquills afforded 

 a white, and sometimes those of a brown- 

 ish cast were used. The quills of feath- 

 ers were split, except the fine pliant tips. 

 The porcupine quills were not split, nor 

 were they used in the round state. They 

 were always flattened. This was done 

 by holding one end firmly between the 

 teeth, pressing the edge "of the thumb- 



nail again.st the quill held by the fore- 

 finger, and drawing it tightly along the 

 length of the quill, the process being re- 

 peated until the quill became smooth and 

 flat. This flattening process was never 

 done until the quill was required for im- 

 mediate use. It was not uncommon for 

 a woman to have in her workbag several 

 patterns drawn on bits of skin, bark, or 

 paper, cut through to make a stencil. 

 These patterns were stenciled or drawn 

 with a bone paint-brush, a stick, or a dull 

 knife, on the skin or bark that was to be 

 worked. A woman who was skilled in or 

 had a natural gift for drawing would copy 

 a design by the free-hand method, except 

 that she had first made some measure- 

 ments in order that the pattern should be 

 in its proper place and proportions. Some 

 even composed designs, both the forms 

 and arrangement of colors, and worked 

 them out as they embroidered. Among 

 most tribes the awl was the only in- 

 strument used in quill-working. The 

 Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Sioux, the prin- 

 cipal quill-working tribes, had a specially 

 shaped bone for flattening, bending, and 

 smoothing ( Mooney ) . A small hole was 

 made with it in the skin or bark, through 

 which the sharp point of the quill was 

 thrust from the back and drawn out on the 

 front side. An end of the flattened (juill 

 was left at the back, and this was bent and 

 pressed close to the skin or bark to serve as 

 a fastening, like a knot on a thread. An- 

 other hole was made, perpendicular to the 

 first, and through thisthe quill was passed 

 to the back, thus making the stitch. The 

 distance between the holes determined 

 not only the length of the stitches, but also 

 the width of the lines forming the design. 

 All designs in quillwork were made up 

 of wide or narrow lines, each composed 

 of a series of upright stitches lying close 

 together. As quills were always so short 

 that one could make only a few stitches 

 at most, the fastening of ends and uni- 

 formity in the length of stitches were 

 important points in the technic of the 

 work. The width of the lines varied 

 from a sixteenth to a quarter of an inch. 

 Very rarely was more than one width 

 employed in one design. The banded 

 fringe usually attached to the border 

 of tobacco-bags was made on strips of 

 dressed skin, cut in the desired width, 

 around which flattened quills were closely 

 and evenly bound, care being taken to 

 conceal the ends of the quills in order 

 that the binding, even when various 

 colors were used to form the design, 

 might look as though it was one band. 

 Different colors on the different strands 

 of the fringe were so arranged that when 

 the strands hung in jilace the meeting of 

 the colors made the figure. 



