Virtual ExhibitsTitle:
NINE-PATCH QUILT
Date:
ca. 1888-1900
Object ID:
1992.24.04
Description:
Rich and diverse Indian cultures thrived in Montana prior to the arrival of whites. Indian women had highly advanced sewing and artistic traditions long before exposure to non-Indian textile arts.
Female missionaries introduced Euro-American sewing practices to Native American women. This was part of the effort to assimilate Indian families into white society after white hunters had nearly decimated the buffalo herds and the federal government had forced the Indian tribes onto reservations. For some Indian women, quilting became one way of preserving their cultural heritage.
Mary and Emma, daughters of James and Maggie Wells, made this quilt at St. Peter's Mission. James came to Montana in 1865. He worked for the North West Fur Company at Fort Hawley, and at other trading posts in Montana. In 1875 he bought an interest in T.C. Power's Fort Clagget trading post. There he met and married Maggie, a Gros Ventre woman. Together they had four children - two boys and two girls. James died in 1884 and his children were placed at St. Peter's Mission. As an Indian, their mother, Maggie Wells, was denied custody of her children. John W. Power was appointed their guardian.
Female missionaries introduced Euro-American sewing practices to Native American women. This was part of the effort to assimilate Indian families into white society after white hunters had nearly decimated the buffalo herds and the federal government had forced the Indian tribes onto reservations. For some Indian women, quilting became one way of preserving their cultural heritage.
Mary and Emma, daughters of James and Maggie Wells, made this quilt at St. Peter's Mission. James came to Montana in 1865. He worked for the North West Fur Company at Fort Hawley, and at other trading posts in Montana. In 1875 he bought an interest in T.C. Power's Fort Clagget trading post. There he met and married Maggie, a Gros Ventre woman. Together they had four children - two boys and two girls. James died in 1884 and his children were placed at St. Peter's Mission. As an Indian, their mother, Maggie Wells, was denied custody of her children. John W. Power was appointed their guardian.
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Patchwork Quilt, 1992.24.04
Patchwork Quilt (detail), 1992.24.04
Patchwork Quilt, 1992.24.04
Patchwork Quilt (detail), 1992.24.04
