I grew up with this holiday celebrated as Columbus Day. Now, it is also designated Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Since I continue to be involved with the Quilts for Survivors Group in Canada (See nashophop.com/2021/11/25/quilts-for-survivors-timmins-ontario-canada/) I thought I’d look at some of the history of the people groups that used to live in what we now refer to as the United States and Canada.
As of December of 2019, the United States Government recognizes 574 tribes within the United States. Canada refers to their tribes as First Nations people groups, and I found 178 separate groups listed. That means between the two countries there are 852 separate nations.
Did you know that when you enter Tribal Lands, you are in a different country? Each tribe has its own laws, law enforcement, and sovereign rights within the boundaries of their lands. I will not begin to discuss the politics of the amounts and locations of tribal lands, but rather point out that history does not show the newest residents of this continent in very favorable light. I would also mention that if any people group deserves reparations, it would be the groups who have been treated so poorly for the last 500 plus years.
On the quilting side, it is fascinating to me that indigenous women quickly adopted this skill and made it their own. Quilted blankets became gifts of respect and honor, which is why Quilts for Survivors gifts quilts to survivors of Canadian Residential Schools. The Plains Peoples in the United States perhaps took this to heart more than most. If you are ever traveling along Interstate 90 near Chamberlain, South Dakota, pull into the rest stop and enjoy the Dignity of Earth and Sky sculpture, by Dale Claude Lamphere. It is 50 feet high, and lit at night. It portrays an indigenous woman in Plains style garments receiving a Lone Star Quilt. I stayed at the rest stop until evening so I could see it with the lights on, and it is magnificent! There is a shop in Chamberlain (The Quilt Shop, reviewed October 14, 2021) that has a panel, made from a photograph of this statue. It is a daylight view, but still wonderful.
So before you light the grill, or hit the stores for Columbus Day Sales, take a moment to think bout who lived where you are living now, only 550 years ago. They had moms and dads, and spouses, and children, and grandchildren. Were they exactly like us? No. But that doesn’t mean they had less value, and should not have meant that they were dispensable.
Stop back on Thursday as the North American Shop Hop continues to visit quilt shops in Wisconsin, heading west to Spokane!