Quilt finds its way home

Social media isn’t always a positive place, but this week it helped a treasured piece of community history find its way back home to Six Nations, thanks to the work of a local business, two thrifters, and a former non-profit president.

“It took a few days and about a hundred shares, but eventually it made it to the right person,” said Lacey Lazare, who owns Thrifting the Night Away in Kahnawake with her partner, Lanny Lazare.

The two had recently received a visit from Brandon Lentz and Catherine Brooks, two non-locals who had been shopping at Value Village in Ottawa when they caught sight of a colourful quilt. They were initially looking for a quilt to take camping, but immediately knew that what they’d found must be special to someone, somewhere.

“We knew we had something very, very important, and that’s what really made us determined to want to return it,” said Lentz.

The quilt has 12 panels, featuring motifs including a turtle, a dress, a moon, and wolves. The couple recognized many of the designs as Indigenous, and they also noticed that the words “Six Nations 2006” were stitched into the piece.

“It just felt special,” Brooks said. “We knew that this wasn’t just a decorative item, but that it had lots of symbolism and weight to it.”

Brooks, who is from Chateauguay, had visited Thrifting the Night Away several times and decided they were who to turn to.

Lacey knew right away that the goodwill of Brooks and Lentz had saved the quilt.

“You can feel the love and good medicine that was made into this quilt, as well as the extreme sadness that it carries, being lost in the world,” Lacey said. “We knew someone somewhere on our socials would probably recognize it.”

Over in Six Nations, the former president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), Beverley Jacobs, received a Facebook notification. A friend had tagged her in a post by a thrift store in Kahnawake, and when she clicked on the notification, she was hit with a wave of emotion.

“It was just unbelievable, I really couldn’t believe where it ended up, I was so sad,” Jacobs said. “But I also felt total happiness, to be reconnected with it again.”

As Brooks, Lentz, and the Lazares suspected, the quilt is indeed special.

It was originally made as a collaborative piece by quilter Alice Olsen Williams, who is from Curve Lake First Nation, to honour the NWAC’s Sisters In Spirit Initiative, a five-year research project designed to increase public knowledge of the violence against Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG).

She had collected quilt squares from women of various communities, each with their own story.

The centre square was designed by Judy Couchie, a member of Nipissing First Nation, and features the number 500, representing the at least 500 Indigenous women known to be missing at the time.

The number is stitched to look like a road with markings, representing the “Highway of Tears,” notorious for being a site of abductions and violence.

Each patch has a story as detailed as this, and together all 12 patches make the Sisters in Spirit Traveling Quilt, which was meant to travel with NWAC staff across Turtle Island.

“It was a really spiritual thing, a recognition of the families and spirits of women, and it was really, really special,” said Jacobs, who had accepted the quilt during her tenure.

In 2009, Jacobs retired from NWAC and had been under the impression that the quilt was still with the families and advocates of MMIWG.

“I’m glad that those people recognized this was something special and I’m really happy that they knew they needed to do something about it, I really appreciate them doing that,” she said.

The quilt is currently making its way back to Jacobs, who plans to speak with some individuals who were involved in the project to decide where it should go to fulfil its purpose in commemorating MMIWG.

“We’re going to have ceremonies for it first, and then we’ll decide,” she said.

For Brooks and Lentz, it’s a relief knowing that the quilt is going home.

“It brought tears to my eyes,” Lentz said. “This was something we knew we weren’t going to keep, it just feels vindicating to be able to return this and bring that history back to where it actually belongs.”

Lacey and Lanny said that they’re just happy to help another piece find its way out of a mainstream thrift store and back in the community, where it belongs.

“We always keep an eye out for pieces to reclaim that may come from our communities - baskets, beadwork, hand-carvings, and quilts,” Lanny said. “So for someone to bring us something like this makes me feel honoured and trusted.”

The full history of the quilt can be found online, by searching “Sisters in Spirit Traveling Quilt.”

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