Slave Quilts

In Cion, the second chapter is all about slavery and the far ancestry of Obed, Orpah, Ruth and Mr. Quigley. The reader follows the Abyssinian Queen and her life at The Owner’s plantation. We read about her two sons and her numerous stories she shares with them about escaping and reaching their freedom. She also makes many quilts that are supposed to help with their escape. Many people today believe that quilts made by slaves were used as coded maps to help them escape. Others think the quilt patterns were visual maps that showed the directions for the routes north. In this book, the Abyssinian Queen creates one quilt that has a hidden map for her oldest son to help with his escape while she makes one for her younger son Nicodemus that shows different tools he will need to use for escape. Whether the quilts and their secret directions were actually utilized as tools on the Underground Railroad people do not know for sure. However, the legend has been passed down from generation to generation and is now an important piece of American History, which is also shown in Cion by the Quigley family. Ruth shows Toloki two quilts that were passed down through generations to her, one being an African pattern she says, which may have been used as a slave quilt for escape.
The codes in some patterns were more obvious than others according to American History. For example, the North Star, Crossroads, and The Wagon Wheel represented apparent landmarks, while a Sailboat indicated a body of water or the availability of boats, the Drunkard's Path reminded travelers to vary their path by moving east and west, and the Monkey Wrench was a sign to gather tools together in preparation of an escape. In Cion, the Abyssinian Queen creates the quilt for Nicodemus which has the numerous different patterns that represent different tools used for his escape to freedom. His quilt included the pattern of the North Star, the Drunkard’s Path, the Log Cabin, Crossroads, the Flying Geese, and the Monkey Wrench. The two sons learn that the North Star represents which way to go to get to Canada, the Monkey Wrench warning them of the necessity of thorough preparation of tools and other necessities for escape; the Flying Geese and Crossroads identified direction of which to take; the Log Cabin denoted safe havens of the Underground Railroad. She told them that there were many other patterns that they and herself could learn in due time. Although Cion says that the Abyssinian Queen is contented and has accepted the fact that she will always be enslaved to The Owner, I wonder why she doesn’t want to go along with her sons to their freedom. She is the one with the knowledge of escaping and the quilting abilities and the patterns knowledge also. I wonder why she wouldn’t consider getting her whole family across the Jordan River to freedom and meet up with Nicodemus’ father. The book doesn’t even mention her considering it.