Porcupine Quills (Subscribe)
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Ever wondered what an African Porcupine with 15 inch quills looked like?
Porcupines are rarely seen, but when one is spotted it is immediately killed. The cleaning process is done by laying the body down on hot coals which will burn the quills off. The intestines and other organs are cleaned out. The meat is butchered in small pieces either to boil or to roast. Quills for crafts projects are taken from the neck or sides.
Porcupine quills were used with beads and in place of them, throughout time. In many areas, they are an abundant natural resource. Also available for purchase through many bead suppliers, they are accessible to anyone that would like to try to work with them. Packaged in there natural state, they will need cutting and cleaning. Dyeing them is another option that you may choose to try. We will discuss all three steps and some organic dye solutions for the person that wants to go totally natural.
People seldom see one of the state’s oddest mammals, the porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum). This is, in part, due to the solitary, nocturnal nature of the creature. Porcupines are concentrated mostly in the western one-fourth of the state, but are slowly spreading eastward. Porcupines are the second largest of Oklahoma’s rodents, with only the beaver being larger. They can reach weights of about forty pounds, and can be over three feet from head to tail.
Decorating boxes and other garments with porcupine quills is unique to North America.
Because they are hollow, they expand with temperature, and work their way deeper....
More than you ever probably wanted to know about porcupine quills, quillwork, dyes, preparation, and use.
Porcupine quillwork is one of the earliest forms of decoration used by the North American Indians. Its use was widespread...from the Woodlands peoples of the Northeast, the Plains peoples of the Midwest, and the Plateau peoples of the Northwest.
Porcupines are the second largest rodent in South Dakota. Their common name is from the French words, porc espin ,
meaning thorny hog, which refers to the animal's famous quills. The scientific name, Erethizon means "arouse" in Greek, and
is a reference to the species' reputation for being irritable. Dorsatum is Latin for back. The Lakota word for porcupine,
"pahin, " also means quill.
Native American uses for porcupine quills. Instructions for bracelet and more.
