ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Iakonikonriiosta moved to Akwesasne as a young woman to support the Mohawk nation’s struggle to maintain an Indigenous presence in northern New York and now works to protect and publicize Mohawk culture through her quilts. She was commissioned to create this quilt for the North Country Art, Land, and Environment Summit in 2020.

Tsi Kiontahsawen / In the Beginning depicts a chapter of the Haudenosaunee creation story, when Sky Woman placed life-filled soil onto the Great Turtle’s shell, creating Turtle Island. According to the story, the pregnant Sky Woman fell from the sky world in a time before land existed and the world was water. Great Turtle offered his shell to the Sky Woman, and the Water Birds and Animals helped prepare it for landing. To make Great Turtle’s shell more comfortable, the Water Animals dove under the waves to retrieve soil at the bottom of the ocean. Muskrat died in the process and, to give her thanks, the Sky Woman sang a beautiful song and danced while placing the soil on Great Turtle’s shell. Her song and dance created the North American continent, known as Turtle Island in the Mohawk tradition.

Beneath Great Turtle, in the middle of the quilt, is the “One Dish One Spoon” wampum belt. Wampum belts are considered living history and serve ceremonial purposes, symbolize titles, and mark agreements between peoples in Haudenosaunee and other Native American cultures.

Iakonikonriiosta includes three-dimensional elements in the quilt, using multiple layers of fabric and different stitch patterns to give life to a time-honored story. Both the wampum belt and the creation story symbolize a need for collaboration. In an era of global climate change, this narrative is especially important; Iakonikonriiosta communicates that the earth is a collective resource that we must work together to save. 
– Meara McClusky ’26

Tsi Kiontahsawen / In the Beginning, 2020
Pictorial quilt designed by Iakonikonriiosta, machine quilted by Robynne Dorion 96 x 86 in
Richard F. Brush Art Gallery
SLU 2020.39

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