Fish Scale Art

 

 

The story, as I was told it, goes this way:

Kayas (A long long time ago) when the Saāwithiniwak or Woodland Cree calling themselves Nîhithaw in their own dialect of the language were being pushed West, looking for a place to live.  They moved further and further West and more and more North, to get their people away from land grabs and the wars between the lower Canadian tribes and the constant push of immigrants.  They finally settled far north where they could live in peace and where there was great game for food and necessary things for a people to live well.  Since they were not involved in the land chaos, they settled in and were at peace.  As with all tribes, they found their place near great rivers and lakes where the animals of the water could sustain them, as well.  One tribe, when they came upon great fish darting silver in the rivers, they asked for permission to use them for food.  It was a time when the animal, fish and birds still spoke.  An old chief, upon deciding on a place that was safe and good to live, came to the bank of a mighty river and asked the White fish for permission to be allowed to take some of that fish tribe as food, promising the Old fish that every bit of the fish. who surrendered to their nets, to use every part to honor the White fish tribe.  After being given permission, the Old Man instructed the people how to catch the fish and how to use every part.  When the women were scaling the fish they got from the net, they noticed how all the fish scales turned silver and dried beautifully on the rocks.  They wanted to do their part in honoring the Fish People.  The women gathered natural dyes and began dying the fish scales and began making beautiful fish scale art. 

I was privileged to be able to have one old woman teach me how to do the scales for fish scale art.  She asked that I would teach the young women to do the art because they were not willing to do all the work that it takes to get the scales from the fish to the art.  She taught me the whole step from gathering the fish from the net, how to scale, how to wash and dry the scales (which are of the same genetic makeup of our fingernails), how to gather the dying materials, and how to dye and dry the scales again. 

I was taught how to collect porcupine quills in the old honorable way.  To collect the porcupine quills, in the right way, you learn where the porcupine traveled and where they ate and slept. I found the porcupine I used quills from, in an apple orchard, in Maine.   When you spend time with the porcupine, you ask it for permission to take some of its quills.  You smudge and pray with the porcupine; promising not to hurt it and explain why you need their quills.  After you are sure where the porcupine visits, often, you prepare for four day’s feast for it.  The first day, you wake out a bowl of grains and nuts.  You stay nearby when it comes and eats the handfuls of food.  You talk to it, when it is done and say you honor it with this food.  You leave it to finish and come back the next morning.  The second morning, you take out a bowl of vegetables of different kinds.  You repeat the honor ceremony, talking to it, smudging around it, and thanking it for being something for you to make beauty of.  The third morning, you take fruits, of different kinds.  Repeating the honor ceremony, you watch while it eats.  In these three days, you have learned what is their favorite of the food you brought.  The fourth day, you take that favorite food, in abundance in  the bowl.  This time, you take a wet gunny sack with you.  Now, you know that a porcupine cannot move really fast.  As well, it waddles and does not run away when fearful, but will stand, all quills on guard.  You spend time with the porcupine, speaking of what you are going to make with its beautiful quills.  As it is finishing off the bowl of his favorite foods, you walk up, slowly, towards it.  As it begins to waddle off, you throw the gunny sack onto its back and as it ambles on away, the quills catch in the gunny sacking.  Voila!  You have collected many many quills.  I am still using the quills from the second porcupine that choose to give me its quills.  The quills no longer have a sharp barbed end.  They need no other work, at all, to be used, other than rinsing off. Letting them dry is all you need to do for them.

 

Making the scales into art is process-heavy, but so worth it.  I do not use natural dyes now that I am not in that area.  I dye the scales using RIT dyes of different colors.  Because the scales are the same genetic make up as fingernails, you cannot use hot water.  You can only use the water as hot as your hands can take.  It is best to wear gloves as you dip and dip (I use a household hand wire strainer).  Dry the scales in soft material.  Be sure and make lots of greens for leaves.  I use a large flannel sheet cut into sections according to how many scales I am doing.  Once they are dry, you can dip in the dye again, until you get a brilliant color.  After dying.  Dry again.

 

Once dry, you are good to go.  Find a frame, cut a still material; leather, velvet,  or upholstery material, etc., and glue it down to the backing of the frame. Then, you use white glue and tweezers to place the porcupine quills that will become the stem.  (Remember the formula of threes.  The eye is drawn into an art piece if it has three or odd numbers of focal points). As well, remember to stagger the length of the porcupine quills.  You make flowers, using white glue and tweezers to start the outside circle of the flower first.  You carry on in and in and in until you have a rounded flower.  Put a blossom on the end of each porcupine quill.  Once you have made your flowers, you will fill in the base and under the flowers with some leaves.

 

 ****this one is the one my friend made...it was her first time

When you are done, you will have a delicate, intricate piece of unique art.  This time, with a friend I was teaching how to make fish scale art, I used my Dr. Martin Inks to die the scales.  Your flowers can look like roses, or daisies, or chrysanthemums.  You make little buds by rolling a scale in between you thumb and finger, the place it in a green scale that you roll as well.  The scales I used are from our fishing adventure in the North Saskatchewan River when we went with the triplets, Teo, and my son. The scales came from a Gold Eye that I taught the kids to scale.

Others I have done and sold or given away, are in the dozens.  Here are two I have kept for myself.