Lakota Feather Hair Ties
with Quill Medicine Wheel

These hand painted "eagle" feathers are made of turkey feathers by Alan Monroe of Hot Spring, South Dakota. The medicine wheels are wrapped in authentic porcupine quills.

Feather hair ties are traditionally worn by Native American dancers but you can use them in a variety of ways:

• Tie them in your hair or your horse's mane or tail!
• Or tie one on your tack, in your car or truck, to your purse or backpack or somewhere at work or school.
• Use them for your personal ceremonies or meditation practices.
• Use them to decorate a gift instead of using a bow.

See more Feather Hair Ties

Quill Work

Porcupine quill work is one of the oldest and fastest disappearing Native American art forms. The Great Lakes and Plains Indians lived in the range of the porcupine and utilized the quills to decorate moccasins, sheaths, baskets, pipe stems and more.

The porcupine was not sacrificed to obtain the quills, although porcupine meat is quite delicious. Instead the women of the tribe would throw a blanket over an unsuspecting porcupine who would release the quills as a defense and leave them in the blanket. Traditionally, the quills were dyed with plant origin colors such as buffalo berry for red, sunflower or cone flower for yellow, and wild grapes for black. Once dry, they are oiled so they wouldn't become brittle and shatter when sewing them. Beading began replacing quillwork in the early 1800s. Today, quillwork is getting harder and harder to find as there are only a few artists that continue to work with porcupine quills.

About Alan Monroe

Alan Monroe was born in Hot Springs , South Dakota and is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. He graduated from Hot Springs High School and studied business and art in Nebraska, Tennessee, and South Dakota. Alan creates his Northern Plains artwork from hides, stone, leather, and wood. He learned the basics of quill working, weaponry, sculpting and pipe making from traditional and contemporary artisans in his family circle. He is a fifth generation master pipe maker. In his sculptures, Monroe works with a variety of materials such as pipestone, bone, wood and alabaster. He creates small objects like fetishes to large pieces than can weigh hundreds of pounds. Monroe's work can be seen in many galleries and museums across the country and he has won many awards. About Lakota Sioux