Yvonne Keshick Walker

Yvonne Keshick Walker 

Yvonne Keshick Walker 

Yvonne Keshick Walker 

Yvonne Keshick Walker 

Yvonne Keshick Walker 

Yvonne Keshick Walker 

"Turtle Back" is a circle-shaped quill box. It is three-inches in diameter.

Yvonne Keshick Walker is member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. She is the most famous living quillworker. Yvonne recently spent time at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian where Yvonne was a featured artist. In addition to the Smithsonian, Ms. Walker has work in museums across the nation. Additionally, her work was chosen by Governor Granholm of Michigan for an exclusive show at the Governor's mansion. Her work was also featured at the Crooked Tree Arts Center and is on display in a variety of settings in Northern Michigan. 

There is beauty, artistry and spirituality found in the Odawa quill art produced today. The gathering of materials used in producing quillart is a seasonal activity. During the season, enough must be gathered to last throughout the year. Raw materials consist of birch bark, sweet grass and porcupine quills. Tools used in fabricating the quill box are simple, consisting of scissors, an awl, tweezers, and a needle and thread. Quill art is an insertion technique whereby the quill is inserted in a small puncture in the bark made by the awl, and pulled tightly into the puncture using the tweezers. No adherents are used to hold the finished product together as this is accomplished by the use of the needle and thread which sews the liners, rails and sweet grass trim to the finished container.

Each piece of quill art is unique, and the intricate traditional woodland designs exemplify the Native American concerns for aesthetics. Quill art is sought after for its' inherent beauty and artistic expression as well as its rarity and uniqueness. The art speaks for itself, but the uniqueness stems from the fact that only a few people on the whole planet produce quill art.