Collecting, weaving, attaching and stringing porcupine quills isn't something you can do any time of the day. You need to have good timing and aim. You might already have an idea of how the Micmac got the quills, BUT!!!! If you think they just took a gun and shot the porcupine, you are not right!!!!!! Micmac never even owned guns, let alone used them. Plus, the Micmac believed in using every part of the animal they killed, not like people now. So they would never kill a porcupine just for quills.

What they did, is figure out when and where a porcupine comes out. They would hide behind a tree and then..........

FLOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They would toss a blanket so it covered the porcupine completely; the hooks on the ends of the quills would hook onto the blanket. The Micmac would come out and pick up the blanket full of quills. Then they would watch the small, scared porcupine scurry into the woods.

BACK TO START PAGE