The four middle panels of the quilt are pictorial. Panel 1 features a white buffalo and an American Indian woman in a white buckskin dress against a landscape background. This grounds the quilt firmly in mythical times by referring to the origin story of Lakota, the story of White Buffalo Calf Woman who brought the sacred pipe of the Lakota. Panel 2 features the everyday life and work of the traditional American Indian woman on the Plains. There is a tipi as a marker for the traditional time frame, a woman and child as well as the outline of a buffalo hide, plants that would have been collected, etc. Panels 3 and 4 represent the work of modern American Indian women: mother, doctor, teacher, business woman, etc. There are representations of the women. The background is a cityscape for Panel number 3 and a rural landscape for Panel number 4. The quilt is meant to portray the many shoes that American Indian women have worn through the centuries. The star quilt has become an important symbol of Indian identity on the Plains, and I have included a small one that will unite the four panels into a whole and visually combine the strength of traditional and contemporary American Indian women. The bear paw border represents the strength of American Indian women as the bear is a symbol of wisdom and strength.

Footsteps Through Time:

           American Indian Women

                  Created by: Dr. Birgit Hans