Collections Spotlight with Elizabeth James-Perry

During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown and through the reopening afterward, the Coe Center partnered with First American Art Magazine to present an interactive Zoom series in which Native artists discussed artworks in the Coe Collections. Collections Spotlight brought deep dives into objects from the Coe collection to the public from the artist’s perspective. These events were free and open to the public.

Elizabeth Perry is an enrolled member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe on the island of Noepe (Martha’s Vineyard). Her fine artwork focuses on Northeastern Woodlands Algonquian artistic expressions: Wampum carving, weaving, and natural dyeing.

As a member of a nation that has long lived on and harvested from the sea, Perry holds a perspective that combines art and an appreciation for Native storytelling and traditional environmental knowledge in her ways of relating to coastal North Atlantic life. She has a degree in Marine Science from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth (2001), off-shore commercial fisheries research experience, and published independent Native research projects.

Perry was honored to be onboard the 38th voyage of the historic Charles W. Morgan whaling vessel, as a descendant of the Gay Head crewmembers. Her artwork has appeared in Native People’s Magazine, Native Fashion Now, and First American Art Magazine. The Massachusetts Cultural Council named her their 2014 Traditional Arts Fellow, and she served as the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer of her community.  She resides in South Coast Massachusetts and now divides her time between art, native plant cultivation, and digital archive work.

Perry discusses the larger plaited basket (NA0094B) with dot designs. The dot designs are likely from a bentwood knife or a hot poker. Perry also notes the lack of pigment and the basket’s natural appearance.

When discussing the smaller basket (NA0094A), Perry notes the incised design on the handle, which she suggests is also likely from a bent knife or hot pokers being used to create the dots to form scrolls. This reminds her of beadwork or tattoo designs of natural materials, like shells and plants.

Perry starts by discussing the materials used; this belt is made from moosehide with quills and beads. The discussion then moved to the dyes used to create the colors in the quillwork. The orange color is made using dye from bloodroot and madder root. Smooth or staghorn sumac could be used for the red dye. The blue-grey dye could have been made from logwood.

Perry also notes that the diamond motif is common in woven quillwork/applique.

Perry shares that this is a wide piece that is ideal for use as a belt or sash. Quills, like those used here, are easy to source from porcupines. To use the quills, they first need to be cleaned of oils and dirt and usually are soaked for an hour or more.

She discusses that the colors used here are all achievable with natural dyes. The blue dye can be achieved using redberry dye and manipulating the pH in the pot/jar holding the dye. She shares that the backing is likely deerskin, and the quills would be cut close to the back.

The design reminds Perry of a rattlesnake or fish, and she suggests that the maker may have been inspired by animals in the region. Perry also shared that artists could use either porcupine quill or bird quill for this technique. She notes that bird quill has a wider individual weft and can also be dyed like a porcupine quill.

Perry notes the very fine quillwork on this quiver and states that the maker likely used sinew threads.