One 19th-century quilt, for example, was made by an 8-year-old white girl under the direction of an enslaved Black woman named Rachel, who presided over the family nursery in Kentucky.

"Craft in America: Quilts" will broadcast on New Mexico PBS Channel 5.1 at 9 p.m. on Dec. 27. Noel Lyn Smith covers the Navajo Nation for The Daily Times.

A Navajo woman who has spent 50 years sewing has now been honored with an NEA award for her unique quilts. She is unafraid to criticize the mainstream culture that's marginalized Indigenous artists.