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"War Bonnet" by Annette Linder
About the Artist:
Annette Archdale Linder was born into a large family on the Fort Peck Reservation. She was raised on a ranch near Oswego and began to learn about sewing from watching her mother, other relatives and community members. Her early years were spent working on the farm during the day and in the evening sewing projects such as tipis, dance regalia, as well as star and patchwork quilts. She later completed her projects on a Singer treadle machine, then moved on to electric machines.
As Annette started her own family, she began to pass on what she was taught by her elders, teaching all of her children and mentoring many others to sew. Sewing and family have both been an integral part of Annette's life. In her teaching, she always emphasizes the need to incorporate personally meaningful symbols into the work, to put oneself into the creation. This has served to facilitate preservation and promotion of contemporary Assiniboine-Sioux tradition.
She has shared her work with the local and regional communities, as well as in a more widespread way, participating and demonstrating her art at events such as the National Folk Festival. She received a Montana Arts Council Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship to teach the tradition. The Smithsonian Institute used several of her quilts in an online exhibit which was designed to increase a broader awareness of this art form. Her quilts are used as gifts to honor people during basketball tournaments, weddings and other celebrations within Montana, the United States, and Canada, as well as a number of other countries overseas.
About the Work:
A century ago, Native American Plains Indians recorded their lives and achievements on painted buffalo robes. The Morning Start Quilt has evolved into the contemporary equivalent, an object of both honor and function in every-day Indian spiritual life. Star Quilts are an important part of many ceremonies. Modeled after the symbolic Morning Star, which represents new beginnings, Native American Star Quilts are integral to the cultural practices of the Plains Indians. The Star Quilts have been used for beauty, warmth, and healing as well as for weddings, anniversaries, graduations, new births, ceremonies and giveaways. High school teams from the Fort Beck Reservation hold star quilt ceremonies at their tournaments to honor their basketball players and coaches.
Annette incorporates elements of her community life into her designs. As life on the reservation has evolved, so have the designs she has used in her star quilts. She frequently incorporates the names of recipients or representations of family and community into her quilts. One design element that she developed is encircling the center of the star with a depiction of tipis – which represents the importance of cohesion and the enveloping function of community for the individual.
