LEWISTON, Idaho – A quilt and hide show was one of the many events included during “The Summer of Peace: Among the Nimiipuu,” north central Idaho’s bicentennial celebration of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Quilters from throughout the region, Native and non-Native, provided quilts to display that carried the theme of “peace and friendship” and generally focused on people, animals, plants and other aspects of this region.
Combining hides and quilts in one exhibition makes sense: both combine artistry and utility. Hides were widely used for a variety of purposes before other materials were available while also allowing people to express their artistry. Quilts offer similar purposes and artistic expression, so it’s a coming together of cultures.
Many of the quilts had won awards at other shows throughout the country. From Lola Saylor’s quilt entitled “Sacajawea’s Home” to Walla Walla Gina Brand Stetter’s quilt entitled “Sun Sets on My Father’s Horses” or any one of many others, all were spectacular.
Ann McCormack, Nez Perce, and Ordella Bauer-deVault served as co-chairmen for the event. McCormack had contacts with Native quilters and hide artists, whereas Bauer-deVault belongs to several quilt guilds and was able to contact quilters who already had quilts that fit the theme. They aimed for 50 quilts and ended up with about 75: an excellent showing, given the time involved and the rather specific subject matter. Bauer-deVault commented, “I’m glad it came together as well as it did. It was a great experience.”
McCormack is the cultural arts coordinator for the Nez Perce Arts Council. “We’re dedicated to creating a better community through the arts while perpetuating all that is said to be the Nez Perce Way,” she explained. That can be seen in the hide shields on display. “We had three or four workshops with our art educators to do brand-new shields,” she said. “This is a practice that is seldom performed at this time. These, and the beautiful hide painting, are ways we can prove to people that as tribal people we can still do the same skills we once did and bring them out for people to enjoy.”
McCormack described Brand Stetter’s quilt, which shows a dozen horses racing down snow-covered hillsides all surrounded with a blue background emblazoned with stars. “We’re really happy she was willing to share it. It’s won in nearly every quilt show it has been in.”
Bauer-deVault concurred with the quality and appeal. “That one’s fantastic!” she said.
Brand Stetter explained the quilt. “It is in honor of my father, Lawrence Picard, and the stories he told us. The mountains in the background are Moonshine Canyon on the Umatilla Reservation. It’s a horse roundup in the fall and the mountains are covered with snow. It was also an honor to be asked to put it in this show.”
Another quilt was done as a memorial to Jackson Sundown, the famous world champion Nez Perce bronc rider. “It was created as a
benefit to raise money to
purchase a new saddle for the
all-around rodeo contestant at the Lewiston Roundup one year,” Ann explained. “A number of ladies each did a square and then it was assembled into a quilt. It was quite a project to get finished, but it raised a lot of money.”
A couple of hides and shields stood out. An old painted hide was on loan from the Tamastslikt Museum on the Umatilla Reservation. This particular hide is about 100 years old and is decorated with geometric figures in yellow and gold tones with some beadwork and many tassels. Another hide, much newer, contained a beaded strip adorned with weasel hides and tassels in an eye-catching style.
McCormack explained the reason for the show: “This exhibit provided the opportunity for partnership-building as kind of an outreach, the tribe meeting non-tribal as well as internally.” She continued, “What I appreciate the most in working on this project is how similar creative people are. You can see the absolute expertise of the quilt show and the givingness and artfulness of the people that I’ve come in contact with just makes my heart sing. We have much common ground. I’ve been completely taken aback by how wonderful and giving these people are to participate in this one-time show.”