A Spectacular Collection of Native American Quilts

Tribes from the Great Plains used quilts as both a practical replacement of buffalo robes and a storytelling device

  • By Owen Edwards
  • Smithsonian magazine, January 2010, Subscribe
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Almira Jackson quilt
Almira Buffalo Bone Jackson (in 1994) once said that she would "dream the colors [of quilts] at night." (Michael Crummett)

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Red Bottom Tipi quilt

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American Indians have long been recognized for their superb artistry and craftsmanship, creating woven rugs and blankets, beadwork, basketry, pottery, ceremonial clothing and headdresses prized by collectors. But the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is home to one of the largest collections of a Native American art form that is hardly known at all: the quilt. Eighty-eight quilts—stitched by women from the Northern Plains tribes from the 1940s on—were acquired in 2007 from a spectacular collection put together by Florence Pulford.

Pulford, a San Francisco Bay area homemaker, first got interested in quilts of the Plains tribes in the 1960s. According to NMAI curator Ann McMullen, these quilts—many bearing a central octagonal star—functioned as both ritual and practical replacements for Plains Indians buffalo robes. Bison hides had grown scarce as herds were hunted nearly to extinction in a campaign to subdue the Plains tribes during the late 1800s. Missionary wives taught quilting techniques to Indian women, who soon made the medium their own. Many of the patterns and motifs, McMullen says, “have a look very similar to [designs painted on] buffalo robes.”

Some of the quilts, including a highly pictorial piece entitled Red Bottom Tipi (Story of the Assiniboine), tell stories. Its dark blue stripe represents the Missouri River; figurative images depict the tepees of an Assiniboine camp and its inhabitants. But most of the Pulford quilts feature abstract geometric patterns. The museum bought 50 quilts from Pulford’s daughters, Ann Wilson and Sarah Zweng, who also donated an additional 38.

Wilson recalls the genesis of the collection: “Since the 1940s, my father, a doctor, and my mother, and later the kids, went to a wonderful camp, a working ranch, Bar 717, in Trinity County in northern California,” she says.

In the 1960s, Frank Arrow, a Gros Ventres Indian, came to Bar 717 from Montana to work with the horses and befriended Pulford and her family. “In 1968,” says Wilson, “Frank’s aunt invited my mother to come to the Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana.” On that first visit, Pulford, who had a long-standing interest in Native American culture, was invited to a powwow and was given a quilt as a gift.

“My mother was stunned by the poverty on the reservation, as I was when I spent a summer [there] at the age of 21,” Wilson says. “She saw that the quilts were made using feed sacks and other bits and pieces of material. She decided that these artists deserved better materials.” Pulford began buying fabric in California and sending it to artisans at Fort Belknap, Fort Peck and other Montana reservations, sometimes even driving a horse trailer packed with quilting materials.

Pulford also began selling the quilts, using proceeds to buy additional fabric and turning over the remaining profit to the quilters. “This was the first time many of the women on the reservations had ever made any money,” Wilson recalls.

It was during one of Pulford’s early trips to Montana that she met quilter Almira Buffalo Bone Jackson, a member of the Red Bottom band of the Fort Peck Assiniboine. The two women became fast friends, staying close until Pulford’s death at age 65 in 1989. “Besides their many visits,” says Wilson, “my mother and Almira kept up a long, very intimate correspondence. They wrote about my mother’s health, about Almira losing her husband, all sorts of things.” Twenty-four of the quilts in the NMAI collection, including Red Bottom Tipi, were designed and sewn by Jackson, who died in 2004 at age 87.

“Almira was also a very talented artist in other ways,” says McMullen. In Morning Star Quilts, Pulford’s 1989 survey of quilting traditions among Native American women of the Northern Plains, she tells of a letter she got from Jackson that described a single month’s output: a baby quilt, two boy’s dance outfits, two girl’s dresses, a ceremonial headdress and a resoled pair of moccasins. “Almira was also well known for other traditional skills,” McMullen says. “Florence was especially intrigued by her methods for drying deer and antelope and vegetables for winter storage.”

Which raises, it seems, an interesting question. In the world of fine art, how many gifted artists can count a working knowledge of curing meat among their talents?

Owen Edwards is a freelance writer and author of the book Elegant Solutions.


American Indians have long been recognized for their superb artistry and craftsmanship, creating woven rugs and blankets, beadwork, basketry, pottery, ceremonial clothing and headdresses prized by collectors. But the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is home to one of the largest collections of a Native American art form that is hardly known at all: the quilt. Eighty-eight quilts—stitched by women from the Northern Plains tribes from the 1940s on—were acquired in 2007 from a spectacular collection put together by Florence Pulford.

Pulford, a San Francisco Bay area homemaker, first got interested in quilts of the Plains tribes in the 1960s. According to NMAI curator Ann McMullen, these quilts—many bearing a central octagonal star—functioned as both ritual and practical replacements for Plains Indians buffalo robes. Bison hides had grown scarce as herds were hunted nearly to extinction in a campaign to subdue the Plains tribes during the late 1800s. Missionary wives taught quilting techniques to Indian women, who soon made the medium their own. Many of the patterns and motifs, McMullen says, “have a look very similar to [designs painted on] buffalo robes.”

Some of the quilts, including a highly pictorial piece entitled Red Bottom Tipi (Story of the Assiniboine), tell stories. Its dark blue stripe represents the Missouri River; figurative images depict the tepees of an Assiniboine camp and its inhabitants. But most of the Pulford quilts feature abstract geometric patterns. The museum bought 50 quilts from Pulford’s daughters, Ann Wilson and Sarah Zweng, who also donated an additional 38.

Wilson recalls the genesis of the collection: “Since the 1940s, my father, a doctor, and my mother, and later the kids, went to a wonderful camp, a working ranch, Bar 717, in Trinity County in northern California,” she says.

In the 1960s, Frank Arrow, a Gros Ventres Indian, came to Bar 717 from Montana to work with the horses and befriended Pulford and her family. “In 1968,” says Wilson, “Frank’s aunt invited my mother to come to the Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana.” On that first visit, Pulford, who had a long-standing interest in Native American culture, was invited to a powwow and was given a quilt as a gift.

“My mother was stunned by the poverty on the reservation, as I was when I spent a summer [there] at the age of 21,” Wilson says. “She saw that the quilts were made using feed sacks and other bits and pieces of material. She decided that these artists deserved better materials.” Pulford began buying fabric in California and sending it to artisans at Fort Belknap, Fort Peck and other Montana reservations, sometimes even driving a horse trailer packed with quilting materials.

Pulford also began selling the quilts, using proceeds to buy additional fabric and turning over the remaining profit to the quilters. “This was the first time many of the women on the reservations had ever made any money,” Wilson recalls.

It was during one of Pulford’s early trips to Montana that she met quilter Almira Buffalo Bone Jackson, a member of the Red Bottom band of the Fort Peck Assiniboine. The two women became fast friends, staying close until Pulford’s death at age 65 in 1989. “Besides their many visits,” says Wilson, “my mother and Almira kept up a long, very intimate correspondence. They wrote about my mother’s health, about Almira losing her husband, all sorts of things.” Twenty-four of the quilts in the NMAI collection, including Red Bottom Tipi, were designed and sewn by Jackson, who died in 2004 at age 87.

“Almira was also a very talented artist in other ways,” says McMullen. In Morning Star Quilts, Pulford’s 1989 survey of quilting traditions among Native American women of the Northern Plains, she tells of a letter she got from Jackson that described a single month’s output: a baby quilt, two boy’s dance outfits, two girl’s dresses, a ceremonial headdress and a resoled pair of moccasins. “Almira was also well known for other traditional skills,” McMullen says. “Florence was especially intrigued by her methods for drying deer and antelope and vegetables for winter storage.”

Which raises, it seems, an interesting question. In the world of fine art, how many gifted artists can count a working knowledge of curing meat among their talents?

Owen Edwards is a freelance writer and author of the book Elegant Solutions.

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Additional Sources

Morning Star Quilts by Florence Pulford, Leone Publications (Los Altos, California) 1989, reissued by Dover Publications, 1996


 

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I do offer a line of patterns for making Native American morning star quilts. These can be seen on my website at: www.nativeamericanstarquilts.net/ Thank you so much.

Posted by Diane Hill on February 7,2012 | 03:38 PM

Thank you for letting us see the beautiful Indian quilts. I was so impressed by the Red Bottom Tipi and would like to know if there is a pattern available to be purchased. I would really like to try to make a similar quilt which would no way compare to the beautiful quilt at the Smithsonian. Do you know where I could obtain this pattern or similar Indian quilt patterns? Thank you for your attention to this inquiry? Rose M. Bauer

Posted by Rose Bauer on February 6,2012 | 12:45 PM

Hello My Quilt shop would like to have a series of Indian quilts for our next series of Block of the Month. Do you have/ know of any quilt books for purchase that we can get?
Where? Appreciate it...

Posted by Kris on January 27,2012 | 06:00 PM

A friend brought in a quilt square from a relative who lived in Arizona. It looks native american; bird/duck design, layered design with slits in top black layer with colored fabric underneath,stitched around slits to create designs on top. Any idea what this could be? Very vibrant colors.

Thanks

Posted by Patricia Nellenback on April 5,2011 | 07:41 PM

My great grandparents were Cherokee. My grandmother was a quilter as was my mother and sister. I am a fabric collector. I too got teary eyed seeing these.Those wanting more information and patterns - well there are lots of great quilt websites and if you go to your local quilt shop they could probably help you research.

Posted by Sue Poyneer on September 8,2010 | 01:07 PM

Hi, My website has a photo gallery of over 400 star quilts that are available for sale. Please visit Diane's Native American Star Quilts, at www.nativeamericanstarquilts.net.

Posted by Diane Hill on July 10,2010 | 04:36 PM

I was rereading the article and came to the site to see the quilts. No Quilts. I beleave thats unfair to the reader. If your not going to show the Quilts then please don't say; to quote you."See a selection of Plans Indians quilts at Smithsonian.com/quilts". I'm a quilter and would of really enjoyed seeing the quilts. I did enjoy the article about American Indians. Theres so much that they have done that people are not aware of. Thank You for you time.

Posted by Pauline Mann-Krueger on July 1,2010 | 02:53 AM

In 1990, my wife and I bought a couple of morning star quilts from this collection from the Marjorie Cahn Gallery. Not sure of their current value but would be interested to know. One was named Fall Time Star with Arrows by Laura Takes the Gun, 75"X97" and the other named War Bonnet Quilt by Victoria Morgan, 68 1/2" by 85".

Posted by Randy Smith on March 10,2010 | 01:12 PM

Please include the measurements of the quilts in your captions. For instance, in the last quilt pictured, the caption mentions "tiny scraps." Is this piece a miniature? Lovely collection.

Posted by Martha on March 3,2010 | 11:45 AM

I have seen many native artifacts in museums and exhibits, but never a quilt. What a wonderful surprise. The pictures are stunning. What a treasure. Thanks for the article.

Posted by Christine on February 10,2010 | 11:34 AM

I remember going to her house as a young girl, yes she was known for the deer drying that was out in her kitchen on a wooden rack. She was a kind women.

Posted by natasha longee on February 1,2010 | 09:53 PM

I have been looking for native american quilt patterens.Do you know where some of the patterns for these quilts could be located. They are absolutely beautiful!
What an inspiration.

Posted by Karie Records on January 28,2010 | 04:43 PM

I have one of these quilts on my bed, and I am writing my senior thesis about Almira's work for my BA in Art History. She was an aunt to my grandfather. If you have any more information about her, or about the tradition behind the quilts, I would love to hear from you. leeshalynn@gmail.com

Loved the article.

Posted by Alicia Harris on January 18,2010 | 01:59 AM

What a wonderful article on another aspect of quilting, as a new storytelling medium for Native Americans. I am in love with the red-bottom tipi design. Where can we send fabric? Please contact me.

Posted by Terry Kinney on January 18,2010 | 01:30 PM



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