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Lawton, Okla. – The Comanche National Museum and
Cultural Center is proud to announce the
traveling exhibition, To Honor and Comfort:
Native Quilting Traditions. The museum is
hosting a reception to kick off the exhibit at
1:00 p.m. on December 8th. The exhibition will
be on display through January 30, 2009.
 Vanessa
Tomahsah (right), and Collections Manager,
Nekole Alligood, show one of many quilts
featured in the new exhibit To Honor and
Comfort: Native American Quilting Traditions on
display beginning December 8 at the Comanche
National Museum and Cultural Center. The
exhibit runs through January 30, 2009 and is
open to the public.
To Honor and Comfort chronicles the history and
diversity of Comanche Quilt Makers and pays
tribute to these and other native artists who
continue to create vibrant works of art, one
stitch at a time. Of the various North American
Indian art forms that resulted from contact with
Euro-Americans, quilt making is perhaps the
least well known. Quilt making in Native
communities was first learned through contact
with primarily Euro-Americans, who possessed
commercially manufactured cloth and steel
needles. Traders, missionaries, government
agents and settlers all played roles in
introducing quilting fabrics and techniques. It
was not surprising that Native peoples --
already skilled at similar craft forms such as
fabricating tapa cloth and hide garments, and
embroidering with porcupine quills and moose
hair -- became adept at quilting and began to
use quilts for purposes unique to their own
cultures.
Quilts have been used in nearly every Native
community for everyday purposes such as bed
coverings, shelter coverings, infant’s swing
cradles, weather insulation, and providing a
soft place to sit on the ground. In some
communities, quilts also play important roles in
tribal ceremonies, the honoring of individuals,
and other activities.
 To
Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions
includes twenty-nine quilts from all over the
country, including examples by Cherokee, Sioux,
Navajo, Ojibway and Native Hawaiian quilters.
The museum will supplement the exhibit by
showcasing a variety of quilts designed by
artists within the Comanche Nation. Other
components of the exhibit include hands-on
activities, a listening station where visitors
can listen to tape-recorded stories from some of
the quilters, videos of quilting activities in
two Native communities, and a series of panels
with photographs and explanatory text.
Developed by Michigan State University Museum,
To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions
is based on an exhibition originally created by
Michigan State University Museum and the
National Museum of the American Indian,
Smithsonian Institution, in collaboration with
Atlatl, Inc., a national service organization
for Native American arts (Phoenix, Ariz). A
board of museum specialists working in both
Native and non-Native museums across North
America were instrumental in helping to design
this version specifically created to tour to
smaller museums, in particular, tribal museums
and cultural centers.
The Comanche National Museum and
Cultural Center is an entity of the Comanche
Nation. The museum opened to the public in
September 2007 with the mission of preserving
and expanding the knowledge of local communities
about Indian Arts and Culture with an emphasis
on Comanche history and culture.
Bottom right: Hawaiian Flag
Quilt, Harriet Soong and Sharon Balai
http://nativetimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=677&Itemid=&Itemid=34
Please click on
photos and graphics for source credits and
details.
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