A Woman's Tools

I have been fascinated at the last two historical sites we’ve visited with the tools and crafts of women.  From food preparation to decorative beading, it is interesting to see the feminine influence within these pages of history.

Presuming that women were involved with food preparation and crafting while men hunted (as we’ve been told and without doing further research right now) I want to share some tools that I saw at Pictograph State Park and what the experts shared of their knowledge about them: 

The mano and the matate were a two-piece tool set (shown above) used for grinding seeds, nuts and roots to produce a flour or meal used in cooking.  The mano was rolling pin shaped and held in one hand and rolled against the food to be ground on the flat matate.  Pestles were used to pound and pulverize meat, which could be mixed with berries and animal fat to make a sun-dried, nutritious food called pemmican. 

Sticks with fire-hardened ends were used to dig roots.  Bone and chipped stone scrapers were used to remove hair and flesh from deer, elk and buffalo hides.  Knives were fashioned for cutting by attaching chipped stone to sticks called hafting which creates leverage to make the cutting of meat, antler or wood easier.

Bone beads, pendants, and pierced animal teeth were used as bracelets, necklaces or clothing decoration.

Awls were made of bone for stitching hides and clothing.

Remember, this is 9,000-year old technology created from the natural elements found in their environment.  They already knew what types of stone worked for making these tools, what berries and grains they could safely eat, how to preserve meat and other foodstuffs and most important of all how to make fire.

Jumping ahead 8,000 years we come to the culture of Native Americans who defeated Custer in 1876.  Add all of the above skills to these below:

They knew gray thistle could be used as a diuretic, tonic and astringent.  Hairy golden aster tops were used to make a tea that helped with sleeping.

Plains prickly pear was used to make candies, jelly or a refreshing drink.

Yucca (soap weed) flowers and pods were added to salads and other dishes.  The petals are a little sweet and nutty tasting.

Elaborate beading work was used to decorate belts, leggings (first photo below) and other clothing items along with moccasins, pouches, jewelry or pendants they hung over teepee entry doors.

If you suddenly found yourself “beamed up" into this same environment, could you survive?  And this is just the tip of the iceberg of what they knew about their natural world and what it could provide for them.  These two sites are fascinating to me because of a culture that is revealed not because of a battle that was fought.  I am glad I spent time at both.