Quilled Leg Bands

These intricately crafted leg bands are a beautiful example of porcupine quillwork, an art form unique to the Americas. Practiced by Indigenous women for hundreds of years before European arrival, quillwork was used to decorate clothing, pouches, and jewelry. Though these leg bands were crafted by the hands of Plains Tribes, the porcupine spans a large geographic region, making quillwork a popular art from with many Native Nations across the Americas. The process starts with removing the nearly 30,000 quills from a porcupine hide. Next the quills were sorted, softened, and flattened. Some quills would be dyed different colors using plants, flowers, and berries to make detailed designs. Finally, quills would be wrapped or woven around other material.

Additionally, these leg bands show off metal cones at the end of their fringe, known as “Tinkling Cones.” Though knee/leg bands were used by Indigenous people all over the Americas, typically to secure leggings, the cones on this pair identify them as regalia for dance or ceremonial use, adding a melodic jingle to the wearer’s movement.  Most likely these quilled leg bands were used in the Grass Dance of the late 1800s.

During the 18th and 19th centuries quilling arts reached one of their highest levels of development, though for a time the transition to cheaper, more colorful beads would usurp its ubiquitousness. However, quilling’s distinctive practice has endured over the centuries to become one of the most recognizable art forms of the Great Plains today.

Works Cited

Brynes, Stephanie. "Tinkle Cones." Object Studies, 18 Mar. 2013, omeka.hrvh.org/exhibits/show/history-of-new-paltz-in-object/adornment/tinkle-cones#:~:text=Tinkle%20cones%2C%20or%20tinklers%2C%20are,custom%20songs%20of%20the%20Esopus. Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.

Garcia, Louie , and David Soger. "Quilled Knee Bands." Gale, 1 Sept. 2008, go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=googlescholar&id=GALE|A192366705&v=2.1&it=r&sid=AONE&asid=6825df30. Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.

"North American Porcupine." Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/north-american-porcupine#:~:text=Native%20Habitat,shrub%20communities%20and%20even%20tundra. Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.

Segal, Brittany. "QUILLWORK." Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, 2 Apr. 2021, fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/quillwork/. Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.