Dorothy Yuzicappi-Joyea of White Bear First Nations is known for her artistic expertise when it comes to making First Nations star blankets. However, she never imagined one of her quilted creations would be presented by the province as an official gift to another country, with thousands also seeing her work on social media, via Premier Brad Wall's Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Yuzicappi-Joyea's creation was commissioned by the province as an official gift from Saskatchewan, to be presented at the Samadhi Mahatma Gandhi-a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi-in Delhi, India-during the Premier's recent trade mission there.
The Premier not only presented the quilt as an official gift, he tweeted a photo of himself holding it, writing to his almost 32,000 Twitter followers: 鈥淧roud to present a star blanket from White Bear First Nation as a gift at the Samadhi Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi.鈥� He also posted the photo to his Facebook page.
According to the province's protocol office: 鈥淒orothy Yuzicappi-Joyea, from the White Bear First Nation, created this quilt. Dorothy's name was provided as a quilter, experienced in making First Nations' star quilts. It was at our request she prepared this quilt to be presented at Rajghat Mahatma Gandhi, a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi. The circular quilt could be used as a wall hanging.鈥�
Yuzicappi-Joyea says she was given a star quilt in the 1980s, and decided that she would try and make one. 鈥淚 learned by trial and error,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 also do beadwork for the regalia that my husband and grandkids wear when they're dancing. I also make and sell other items, right now I'm raffling off a set that includes baby moccasins, a baby star quilt, and a moss bag, which is a baby carrier.鈥�
鈥淭he province kind of told me what they were hoping for. They asked for a round quilt, which could be hung up and displayed. The colours I chose were spiritual colours. The background is white and the stripes are different colours, all with a different meaning. I'm from the Dakota tribe, so I used our colours. Each colour represents, east, south, west and north, as well as representing different animals.鈥�
鈥淚t's an eight-point star and the white background enhances the colours. It is also a spiritual colour for the Dakota people,鈥� she added.
鈥淚t's very unexpected. It's an honour that it's presented in remembrance of Gandhi himself. To me, it's an honour that some of my work is in India and that a piece I made is going that far.鈥�
Tickets for Yuzicappi-Joyea's baby set raffle are $5 each and can be purchased at the White Bear Band Office. To contact Yuzicappi-Joyea about raffle tickets or about purchasing her work, call 306-575-0119.聽
