In 1997, the Piecemakers Quilt Group was formed in New Paltz, NY to benefit the Akwesasne Freedom School. which is located on a Mohawk Reservation called Akwesasne. Men, women and children from all over North America and beyond have worked individually or in pairs to create quilt blocks for this project.
Each year, the quilters vote on a theme. Then each quilter or pair of quilters make a block that is mailed to a coordinator who sews all of the blocks together so that it can be quilted and sent to the Akwesasne Freedom School. The AFS holds an annual quilt auction to raise funds for the school.
The Akwesasne Freedom School was founded in 1979. It is a Mohawk language immersion school that teaches all of the subjects in Mohawk language and within Mohawk cultural context. The Mohawk students who attend this school learn what they need to know to lead a good life and to feel pride in who they are.