Beth Bush moved to Cleveland in 2019 and began feeling disconnected to her tribe, the Potawatomi tribe of Michigan.
This feeling prompted her to return to her practice of Indigenous beading and into the journey of ancient quill art.
Quill art is an ancient art form that predates Indigenous beading and European settlers coming into the Americas. It was used to decorate bags, coats, and moccasins.
The quills used are from porcupines. They are collected, dyed, sorted, and sewn into designs. The practice comes from the Indigenous practice of using every body part of deceased animals. To keep porcupine quills from going to waste, they began using them in their art and decorations.
Bush is a part of a larger movement to bring back the ancient art.