![]() However, others, such as Tobin and Dobard, think otherwise. They say that there is little in writing or oral reports that says this is true. Some people question whether quilts were actually used as a form of secret communication. Free blacks and others would meet escaping slaves and give them fresh, new clothing, so that they could blend in with the other black people living in the area. Some feel this quilt symbol was a signal to the escaping slaves to dress up. This X-shaped symbol was very common in African culture. For example, the quilt pattern called Bowtie looks like an X on its side. They were used to seeing the symbolism in many different objects. Tobin and Dobard also knew that Africans who were brought into this country grew up with coded information all around them. In that culture, people tied five knots in a piece of cloth to ask for protection from the spirits around them. ![]() This method of knotting also had roots in the belief systems of the Ibo people in Africa. ![]() The more knots, the greater the distance, they thought. Yet some of the quilts the two researchers found had knots that were tied as many as five times much more than would be needed to keep the quilt together.Īs they thought about this, they realized that the knots might have been a way of telling escaping slaves a pattern of travel between safe houses or hiding places. To make a quilt secure, people used one or two knots. Tobin and Dobard found some quilts that had unusual knot patterns. To join them all together, people used to sew a string through all the layers and tie it off with knots. Harriet Powers: A Darling Offspring of Her Brain,
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |