"Arise!  Arise!  Come see the morning star."  This centuries old call from the camp crier, as he rode through the Indian encampment, awakened the people to their day.  For the Northern Plains Indians of the Dakotas, the sighting of the morning star still heralds a new begining, a new day dawning.

            The morning star!  How appropriate that this symbol, which is so meaningful and constant in their lives, is the predominant theme of the Plains Indians quilters.  For over a hundred years these artistic women have been creating colorful variations of the morning star in their quilt.

            Long before quilting, the star pattern adorned animal skins used for tepees, clothing and shields.  For ages the star has been depicted in the Plains Indians' hide paintings, porcupine-quilled moccasins, leggings and clothing.  With the traders' introduction of beads, the star appeared in beaded form.  Sinew, the ganglion from the backbone of a deer, buffalo or elk, made a strong, sturdy thread.  Small, sharply pointed animal bones were used as the first needles.  To this day, many Indian women prefer to use sinew for moccasins and beadwork though not in quilts, which, of course, are sewn with thread.   The use of the morning star quilt designs is a continuation of their time honored art form.

            These Native American women were excellent seamstresses long before the white people arrived.  When the missionaries came in the 1800's with their needles and calico-printed fabrics, quilting became an exciting new art medium for the Indian women.  The calico materials were bright and pleasing to the women's eyes.  Here they could experiment with different textures and colors.  They were not given an abundance of fabrics.  Therefore, they diligently used cast off clothing and dyed flour sacks.

            Being keen observes of nature and attuned to their environment, they soon recreated rainbows, storms, the seasons and the heavens in their quilts.  Thus, the women turned this missionary-introduced craft into their own meaningful art form.

            Quilts quickly took on deep significance in the cultural practices of the people.  In early times they replaced buffalo robes in wrapping the dead. They were and are given in sympathy to the family of one who has died.  They are given at births.  Quilts honor friends and loved ones.  For the newly married couple, the star quilt is considered an essential gift, bestowing upon them recognition and respect.   They are used as altar cloths in churches and are hung in schools for graduation ceremonies.  Always, they are a focal point in the Give Away.   

            It is customary at the death of a relative to enhance their glory and memorialize their name.  The stricken family in the Sioux had little pride in ownership of goods, but much pride in honorship; by giving of materials to relatives and very close friends who come to help them bury their loved ones.   Things are less important than people.  Property always flows back to those who let it flow forth and the grateful recipients praise the donor's name before other people as having done well.  Such are the inherited beliefs of many Indian Americans.

            This explains the traditional memorial services held on the first anniversary of the death of a loved one in the family and their presentation of quilts to those who have been especially kind to the deceased.

Color is the essence in Indian quilting.  They speak with color.  Art is one of the few areas where Indian lives are not controlled by others.  Helpless to pursue their former ways, quilting has allowed these women a rare freedom.  A quilter delights in using color as a painter would her palette.  The Indian quilter's sense of color is unique, innovative and raucous.  Quilting bees are now a part of their life.  Quilting is an individual expression.  Two distinctive qualities separate the Sioux quilt from any other quilt.  The diamond, which in Sioux culture represents the four directions, is used to comprise every design, from the Morning Star Pattern to the less traditional eagle and buffalo patterns.  The second quality which makes Sioux quilts spectacular are the color choices of the Sioux women. Many of the Sioux women without formal artistic training instinctively blend colors, making each quilt a breathtaking journey into the color spectrum.  Many Lakota women have learned the art of quilting from their mothers and grandmothers take great pride in finishing star quilts to perfection, making them of heirloom quality.

Quilters are vague about the origins of the Star Quilt design itself.  Most seem to think that quilting arrived with the settlers.  It is suggested that the Dakota Presbyterian Church, an independent Indian branch of the American Presbyterian Church, was the most likely vehicle for bringing quilting to the reservation.  The church has congregations on all the Sioux reservations in Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Montana, and it seems likely that Star Quilts came to Fort Peck between 1880-1900, about the time the first Dakota Presbyterian missionaries, many of them Sioux, came to the reservation.

            Whatever its origins, the Star Quilt has become a well established art on many reservations.  The pride of every Dakota home is a Star Quilt.  It lies folded to wait as a gift.  It covers the bed, and it wraps the dead.  It makes sacred whatever it covers.  It is a sacramental.  It is a visible image that holds an invisible reality.  'It will not leave you orphans.'"

Excerpts from an article by Tana Mundwiler