This is part of a series called Ann’s Eye, featuring the work of Ann Paul, a Wolastoqey content creator. You can see more Ann’s Eye pieces by clicking here.
When Judie Acquin needed porcupine quills for her students, she went straight to the source.
After posting a callout on Facebook, Acquin drove out to the spot someone shared. She was just a young porcupine, a dead thing everyone else drove past. Now there was a woman kneeling over her body, using water and tobacco to thank her for her life.
Using porcupine quills for beadwork or roaches, a traditional headdress, is a way to honour the animal’s life, Ann Paul said.
Featured VideoArtist Judie Acquin needed porcupine quills for her students. After a Facebook callout, she got into her car to go pick up a freshly killed animal.
She was with Acquin that morning, bearing witness to this roadside redemption that students from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design Wabanaki Visual Arts Studio would use for their projects.
“The life this porcupine walked is going to be carried on in our lives,” Ann said.
Scroll through the photos and watch the video to see what Ann saw.
Ann’s Eye
Photographer Ann Paul brings an Indigenous lens to stories from First Nations communities across New Brunswick. Click here or on the image below to see more of her work.