indians

QUILTING THE HOPI WAY

In the Hopi mesas, the land appears more ancient, time seems to pass more slowly, and the gentle breeze feels like it has blown forever. I've come to this timeless region to learn how the Hopis have merged the Anglo craft of quilting with their native traditions. On the Hopi Indian Reservation, famous for its pottery and bas-kets, quilting seems incongruous. The Hopis, though, have incorporated this skill into their heritage and created a unique blend of two cultures.

Their distinctive quilts are gaining the recognition they deserve. The Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff is currently hosting a show titled "Quilting from the Hopi Mesas: Stitched Traditions from an Ancient Community." The quilts will be displayed through September, 1998.

Carolyn O'Bagy Davis, guest curator of the quilt show, is writing a book on the history of quilting among the Hopis. She accompanied photographer Bernadette Heath and me to this windswept land to introduce us to the quilters and their culture.

According to Carolyn, it was Mennonite and Baptist missionaries who first brought quilting to the area in the 1880s. A minister's wife found hosting a quilting bee every week a good way to meet the local residents.

The Hopi men were traditional weavers, so many of them also learned to quilt. Today more than 100 quilters, both men and women, gather weekly on the three Hopi mesas to quilt and socialize.

Edison Tootsie is one of the male quilters, as were his father and grandfather. He remembers when the Hopi men would meet in the First Mesa Baptist Church during the winter and quilt. Edison says, "My father used to straighten the metal key from a Spam can, sharpen it, and use it for a needle."

Edison, too, likes to sew the fabric quilt blocks in winter. He learned the skill from his parents and makes quilts for each of his children. Like quilters worldwide, he finds piecing together quilt tops relaxing.

Edison's wife, Karen Tootsie, also quilts, but she paints original designs on blocks, then pieces them into quilt tops. Her "Butterfly Dancer" quilt is made from white blocks with dancers outlined in black. The butterfly wings on the back of each dancer stand out in vivid colors.

Karen presented a quilt, called "Grandma's Patchwork," to a nephew at a ceremonial in 1996. She took the hand-sewn quilt blocks inherited from her grandmother and pieced them into a quilt top, doing all the work by hand.

Although Karen's grandmother quilted, Karen, herself, didn't learn until she was grown. Now she spends much of her time teaching others to quilt, crochet, and make baskets. "I really like working with the elderly people," she says. "As we quilt, they tell me their stories, and I learn, too."

Karen considers quilting a form of stress therapy. She comments, "I tell the women if they are angry or upset at something or someone, sew that anger into your quilt, and your anger will become something beautiful."

Hopis have made attractive and useful quilts for more than 100 years. Many of the older quilts were made of 3by 5-inch fabric scraps. Known as "White Cross Blocks," these postcard size swatches were cut by Mennonite and Baptist women from around the world, tied into stacks of 100, and sent to the Indian missions.

Today Carolyn brings as much donated fabric and supplies as she can from Tucson for the Hopis to use in their quilts. Some tribal members still piece the quilt tops together by hand, but many use a sewing machine. Carolyn says she felt like Santa Claus one

Christmas when she took a sewing machine to a woman who had wanted one for a long time.

Carolyn first learned of Hopi quilters through the book Me and Mine by Helen Sekaquaptewa and Louise Udall. So we went to Kykotsmovi at the foot of Third Mesa where Marlene Sekaquaptewa, Helen's daughter, lives.

Her mother attended the Bureau of Indian Affairs School at Keams Canyon, Marlene told me. The school required Helen to learn "Domestic Arts" including quilting. At first she resented learning the time-consuming new skill, but then Helen decided since she had to quilt, she would be the best she could be. She further refined her quilting talents at the Mormon women's Relief Society meeting.

Marlene pulls out a red and white patchwork quilt made by her mother. Her four-year-old granddaughter, Paulette, quickly wraps up in the quilt and climbs onto Marlene's lap for some cuddling. The quilt, faded and worn, is well-used and well-loved.

Set up in a corner of her house, Marlene's quilt frame holds a small bright-blue and white quilt. With minute neat stitches, she follows the design of a spider web, complete with a small spider drawn in pencil on each white block. When I comment on her unusual choice of a pattern, Marlene explains the quilt is a special surprise for her grandson's 12th birthday. I still don't get the connection until Marlene smiles and says her grandson is a member of the Spider Clan.

I had noticed the dark green cornstalks growing in many small sandy plots throughout the reservation. "Corn is the very essence of our way of life," explained Marlene. "Most of our meaningful events have corn in them. Besides, it is our basic food."

After Marlene conceived her idea for a "Corn" quilt, she asked her sons to help her draw the cornstalk motif. She then stitched the outline of the corn pattern in brown, green, and yellow to create a quilt that pays tribute to an essential element of Hopi life.

Both Karen Tootsie and Marlene make "Naming Blankets." Marlene says her mother told her to learn to quilt so she could make one for each grandchild, and she is doing just that. When I didn't know what she meant by a Naming Blanket, Marlene tried to untangle the intricate social structure of the Hopis for me.

When a child is born, the paternal grandmother and aunts help give a Hopi name to the new child. They also bring a gift of a baby's quilt. Sometimes the clan sign or some other symbol of Hopi culture is stitched onto the quilt.

Karen, Marlene, and other Hopi artisans have started selling special-order quilts. Not only does this bring in extra cash, it fills their need to express creativity. Visitors to the Hopi reservation are recognizing these quilts as a unique craft evolved from the merging of two life-styles.

The Hopi mesas remain as strong and unchanging as ever, but the culture these fortresses shelter has managed to take quilting and transform it so it reflects the tribe's ancient community.

Additional Reading: Quilting from the Hopi Mesas: Stitched Traditions from an Ancient Community, the recently published book by Carolyn O'Bagy Davis, costs $27.95 plus shipping and handling and is available from the Museum of Northern Arizona bookstore; (520) 774-5213, ext. 261.

WHEN YOU GO

The current Hopi quilt exhibit at Flagstaff's Museum of Northern Arizona will run through September, 1998. The museum is located on U.S. Route 180, Fort Valley Road, about three miles north of downtown Flagstaff. Hours are 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. daily except major holidays. Admission is $5, adults; $4, age 55 and over; $3, students 18 and over with ID; $2, ages seven to 17. The museum is handicapped-accessible.