Art Form: Anishinaabe porcupine quill work

Location(s): Sault Ste. Marie (Chippewa County)

Alice Fox

Alice Fox was born in Wikwenikong, Ontario, to an Odawa mother and Ojibwe father. She began learning quillwork from her mother at age ten, during the great depression, as a way of helping her family make a living. By age twelve, she made her first quill box and continued this practice throughout her life. Alice found teaching in her retirement. She and her sister Rita Corbiere traveled around Michigan communities showing students how to make traditional birch bark and quillwork pieces such as canoes and boxes. She delighted in the way a classroom of young pupils would become content and busy once beginning their own projects and the rush of “aw!”s when the time came to quit. Alice was described as a tireless instructor with a great eye for detail and an attention to making sure her students knew both the right way to do things, and why that way mattered.

- Claire Taylor, 2024

Brian Matrious

 Brian is a multi-media Potawatomi artist who pursued the mentorship due to his interest in Ojibwe traditions. Quillwork was something that he especially wanted to learn both as an additional artform and to pass the skill down to his children to further their connection to their heritage.

Alice and apprentice Brian Matrious used a holistic approach. They took field trips to gather sweetgrass, birch bark, and pluck porcupine quills, then took time to clean and prepare the materials for use.