American Indian people have lived along the Columbia and Snake Rivers for thousands of years. The confluence of these two rivers served as a camping area, a trading center, and a fishing site. Today this is Washington’s Sacajawea State Park. One of the exhibits in the Sacajawea Museum in the park looks at the Plateau Indian tool kit.
According to the display:
“After the men and boys brought in a catch of salmon or other fish, women and girls processed the fish. They cleaned the fish and thinly sliced and spread them on drying racks. The women pounded the dried salmon into fine shreds, packed it into baskets and stored it for winter and trade.”
According to the display:
“Stone drills were used to pierce hide, wood, bone and antler. Scrapers were used for cleaning and working hides and defleshing bones in the preparation of food and clothing.”
Stone Mauls
Arrows
According to the display:
“The size, style and shape of the points varied, depending on the toolmaker’s skill, the raw material and the point’s intended use.”
According to the display:
“The slender grooves in the stone shaft straightener and in the sandstone blocks tell us the toolmaker used these for arrow shafts. Once the shaft was straight, the toolmaker used the blocks like sandpaper, to smooth the wood shaft.”
According to the display:
“Fletching is the process of stabilizing an arrow with feathers to improve its flight. The craftsman attached three half feathers to one end of a wood shaft with pitch and thread made of hemp or sinew. The feathers helped the arrow spin in the air, balancing the arrow’s flight. Hawk feathers were the most commonly used by Plateau craftsmen.”
Pestles
Indians 101
Twice each week Indians 101 explores different topics relating to American Indian histories, arts, cultures, and current concerns. More about the Plateau Indians from this series:
Indians 101: Murdering a Peaceful Chief, Peopeo Moxmox
Indians 101: Looking Glass, Nez Perce Chief
Indians 101: The Kalispel Indians
Indians 101: Celilo Falls
Indians 101: The Horse and the Plateau Indians
Indians 101: Plateau Indian Trade
Indians 101: The Plateau Indian Longhouse (museum tour)
Indians 101: Plateau Indian Reservation Life (Photo Diary)