Chapter III: Part 3

_Fish Knives._ No fish knives made of slate were found, as in the Thompson River region, at Lytton,[114] rarely at Kamloops,[115] and commonly on the coast at Fraser Delta,[116] Comox,[117] and Nanaimo.[118]

[114] Smith, (d), p. 140.

[115] Smith, (c) p. 414.

[116] Smith, (a), p. 159.

[117] Smith, (b), p. 315.

[118] P. 345, _ibid._

_Fire Making._ The method of making fire formerly employed in this region is suggested by a fragment of the hearth of a fire drill found in grave No. 10 (5) in a rock-slide about one half a mile above the mouth of the Naches River and is shown in Fig. 38. It is made of porous wood, of light cellular structure, possibly cottonwood. This is similar to the fire drill hearths of the Thompson River region,[119] where I have seen the Thompson River Indians make fire with the palm drill, using cottonwood root for the hearth. In the Nez Perce region to the east, also, fire was made with the palm drill, the hearth stick being of the root of the light leaved willow or the stem of "smoke wood." It was of the shape of the hearth here described. The twirling stick was made of the dead tips of red fir.[120]

[119] Teit, (a), p. 203.

[120] Spinden, p. 200.

_Caches._ A number of small circular holes about four feet in diameter, encircled by a slight ridge, as mentioned on p. 15, were seen which are possibly the remains of ancient food caches. The Nez Perce Indians in the region to the east referred to a field at Kamiah, near the mouth of Lawyer's Creek which has the appearance of being "hilled" like an old hop field, as being the site of winter cache pits.[121]

[121] Spinden, p. 181.

_Boiling._ Natural pebbles were plentiful in the river bottoms near the village sites. Such were no doubt used in boiling food in baskets or boxes, as fragments of burned and cracked pebbles were also found while pottery was entirely absent. These facts suggest that it was the custom to boil the food in baskets or even in boxes as on the coast to the west. This idea is strengthened by the fact that in the Nez Perce region to the east, watertight coiled baskets were regularly used in cooking.[122] We may naturally suppose that roasting before open fires was also customary in this region. No fireplaces such as were probably used in this area and are found in the Nez Perce region,[123] were recognized by us, although beds of clam shells previously mentioned, may indicate the sites of ancient hearths.

[122] Spinden, pp. 190 and 194.

[123] Spinden, p. 178.

HABITATIONS.

_Semi-subterranean House Sites._ Sites of ancient semi-subterranean winter houses, modern lodges and what may possibly have been a shell heap were seen and photographed by us in this region. Two of the examples of the remains of semi-subterranean house sites found here, as shown in Fig. 2, Plate IV, had stones on top of the surrounding embankments. Although on the top of the embankments of the remains of similar underground winter houses in the Thompson River region,[124] we saw no stones other than those of the soil. I am informed by Mr. James Teit that such are occasionally to be found there also, but that these stones are generally found only in those places where boulders were removed during the excavation for the houses. He was told that it was the custom to place these boulders around the base of the house. Two semi-subterranean winter house sites, as mentioned on pp. 7 and 15, may be seen on the flat along the north side of the Yakima River about a mile below the mouth of the Naches. One of these may be seen in Fig. 2, Plate III.[125] There are water-worn boulders in and on the embankments surrounding them. These boulders were probably uncovered during the excavation for the house. The holes are situated within twenty-five feet of the river and between it and the Yakima Ridge which rises by perpendicular cliffs, almost immediately behind these winter house sites. In fact, the photograph reproduced in the figure was taken from the hill side north of the pit and just up stream from the cliffs. They are on a little terrace about three feet high which gives them the appearance of having been connected by a ridge. The hole shown in the figure measured from the top of the ridge was nine feet deep. The top of the bank measured at points on the flat between it and the river, up stream from it, and between it and the hill, was four feet, two feet, and two feet, four inches, respectively. Averaging these measurements, the height of the embankment above the level is thirty-three and one third inches. The hole was so near the level of the river, and was so deep that when we visited it on June 18, 1903, which was during high water, the waters of the Yakima had soaked through the terrace and were about two feet deep in the bottom of the hole where it was about eight feet in diameter, measuring north and south. Measuring in the same direction the diameter of the top of the hole from points inside of the surrounding ridge was twenty-two feet, from points on top thirty-three feet, from points outside forty-seven feet, and from points outside of the wash from the ridge fifty-one feet. These measurements give us twelve and a half feet as an approximate width of the ridge or fourteen and a half feet if we measure from the bottom of the wash. The two sites mentioned on pp. 7 and 16 were also examined and photographed by us. One is plainly shown from the north of west in Fig. 2, Plate IV. They are located on a high terrace on the north side of the Naches River about one and a half miles above its mouth. There are angular rocks on each encircling ridge. Some of the large angular rocks found on the embankment of this ridge, may also have been dug out during the excavation for the house if such rocks are found under the surface of the soil in this terrace. Similar rocks are scattered about on the surface so thickly that it must have been necessary to remove a number of them from the site where the house was to stand and possibly others that were scattered about may have been put up around the base of the house in order to clear the immediate vicinity especially since many of them are disagreeably sharp angular fragments.[126]

[124] Smith, (d), p. 140 and Fig. 2, Plate XIII; (c), p. 414.

[125] Museum negative no. 44517, 7-7 from the north. Negative no.
44518, 7-8 shows the same from the northwest.

[126] These two sites are represented by Museum negatives nos.
44181, 4-6 reproduced in the figure; 44491, from the west; and
44492, 5-5 nearer from the west.

Measuring the site best shown in the figure, east and west, the level floor inside the extreme wash from the ridge is nine feet in diameter, the rocks fallen from the ridge thirteen feet, the inner edge of the ridge 20 feet, the points on the top of the embankment, twenty-five and a half feet; the outside of the rocks, thirty feet; the extremes of the embankment thirty-five feet. These measurements north and south are respectively, nine feet, thirteen and a half feet, sixteen and a half feet, twenty-one feet, twenty-five and a half feet and thirty-three feet. Judging from these measurements, the original dimensions were probably thirty feet by twenty-five and a half feet over all, twenty-five and a half feet by twenty-one feet for the top of the embankment, twenty by sixteen and a half feet for the inside of the embankment and sixteen and a half feet by fifteen feet for the bottom of the floor. These measurements are also east and west and north and south respectively. The present depth of the hole below the top of the rocks is twenty-nine inches and from the top of the earth embankment is twenty-six and twenty-one inches. The measurements were taken east and west and north and south respectively. The slope of the hill from north to south and its attendant wash, of course, affect the north and south measurements, while the east and west measurements are probably near the original dimensions. Contiguous to this hole on the south, or in the sage brush to the right in the figure, is the other site. It is on the slope of the hill and not so clearly shown in the Plate. This hole measures ten and a half feet by eleven feet across the level floor inside; thirteen by fourteen feet inside of the rocks; nineteen by eighteen feet at the top of the embankment twenty-three by twenty-three feet outside of the rocks; and twenty-seven by twenty-six feet outside of the embankment; fourteen and eighteen inches in depth from the top of the rocks and ten and twelve inches from the top of the earth, the measurements being taken east and west and north and south respectively.

Mr. G. R. Shafer informed me that there were holes, the remains of old houses on the flat in the Naches Valley, twelve miles above the Nelson Bridge which crosses the river a short distance above the mouth of Cowiche Creek. At Fort Simcoe, immediately south of the Indian agency, on the north edge of "scab land" overlooking a small ravine as mentioned on p. 8, is a large pit surrounded by an embankment of earth, the remains of a winter house site. This hole is so deep and the embankment is so high that both Mrs. Lynch and the Indians call it a fort. About fifteen miles above Kennewick on the eastern side of the Columbia River, according to Mr. D. W. Owen, there were the remains of hundreds of semi-underground winter houses and we saw several large and deep sites immediately below Mr. Craig's house above Priest Rapids as mentioned on page 20.

A semi-subterranean winter house, with an entrance through the roof, seen by Lewis and Clark[127] on the north side of the Columbia near the mouth of White Salmon River, was uninhabited at that time (1805). As described, it does not differ from the winter house of the Thompson Indians. The Chinook, so far as we know, never erected such houses. The pit of an underground house, according to Clark[128] was found among the Nez Perce. Gibbs[129] mentions what were probably similar pits on the Lower Yakima. Kane[130] describes a somewhat similar house used by the Walla Walla but much ruder. Such houses were used by the Klamath.[131]

[127] Lewis, p. 185; Lewis and Clark, IV, p. 280.

[128] Lewis and Clark, V, p. 35.

[129] Gibbs, (a), p. 409.

[130] Kane, p. 272.

[131] Gatschet, pp. 177, 124; Abbott in the Pacific Railroad Report,
VI, p. 69.

Not far from the ranch of Mr. Frank Turner on Rock Creek about six miles below Rock Lake on Section 6, Town 18 north, Range 40 east in the country locally known as "The Rocks," there are two pits that are supposed to be the remains of houses which with other remains (pp. 29, 82, 140) have been in their present condition since about 1874 when they were first seen by the whites. Both the pioneers and the old Indians are said to know nothing about them. Mr. Turner's place is best reached from Sprague on the Northern Pacific Railroad, although his Post Office is Winona. My information regarding these two pits is from Mr. J. S. Cotton, then in charge of cooperative range work in Washington.

It is quite possible as pointed out by Lewis[132] that the introduction of the buffalo skin covered lodge which probably came after the advent of the horse into this region, had something to do with the apparent scarcity of the semi-subterranean winter house in the Yakima region in historic times, the buffalo skin lodge possibly having taken the place of the earth-covered dwellings.

[132] Lewis, p. 186.

The so-called cremation circles near Cherry Creek and near the mouth of the Naches which were mentioned on pp. 12 and 15 and described on pp. 163 and 157, may be the remains of small houses of the type of semi-subterranean winter house sites that were made especially as grave houses. As before mentioned, this type of semi-subterranean circular lodge is found as far north as the Thompson River country, and I have seen one site on the prairie near Rochester, Thurston Co., probably of this type. In the Nez Perce region to the east, remains that appear like those of semi-subterranean houses consisting of ridges of earth about a foot above the general level of the ground, surrounding a circular pit, from three to five feet deep, measuring from the top of the ridge; and about seventy feet in diameter, are found near the mouth of Tammany Creek on the east bank of Snake River, a few miles above Lewiston. The site may be identified with Hasutin.[133] The place is known to have been used as a camp until about 1878, especially during the season of lamprey eel fishing. These house rings are in several groups. A little charcoal, some unio shell, flint chips, a digging stick with a bone handle, glass beads and other objects are reported to have been found in them. Somewhat similar house rings about twenty-five feet in diameter were found on the south bank of the Middle fork of Clearwater River, near the town of Kooskia. Spinden[134] refers to Lewis and Clark[135] for evidence of considerable antiquity for the circular house rings in this Nez Perce region. They mention one as being about thirty feet in diameter with a rim over three feet high and the floor sunken four feet below the surface of the ground or seven feet below the top of the rim. The Mountain Snakes, according to Ross[136] never used underground houses.

[133] Spinden p. 179.

[134] Spinden, p. 197.

[135] Lewis and Clark, V, p. 33.

[136] Ross, (b), II, p. 117.

At the site near Kooskia there is another type of house site such as I have not seen in the Yakima, Thompson or Coast regions. Spinden describes them as long and narrow, about sixty to eighty-five feet long by eighteen feet wide. The interior is sunken from one to three feet and surrounded by well marked elevated rims. As a rule, these pits are not so deep or clearly marked as those of the circular type. The axis of the house is parallel with the river. He states that these house sites have not been used for a long time and that trees, some of which are eighteen inches in diameter grow directly out of them. Excavation revealed a number of fireplaces about twelve feet apart along the axis of these houses suggesting that they were communal lodges.[137] We discovered no indications of communal dwellings in the Yakima region.

[137] Spinden, p. 197.

_Circles of Stones (Summer House Sites)._ A circle of stones which marked a small lodge site was examined and photographed. The stones were no doubt cleared from the interior and all or part of these possibly with others, were no doubt used to hold down the lodge covers. Although I saw no such circle of stones in the Thompson River region I am informed by Mr. Teit that they are occasionally to be seen there and that they represent old lodge sites. The circle of stones above-mentioned as described on p. 15 was found on a terrace somewhat lower than the one on which were situated the remains of the two semi-subterranean houses described on p. 52. This terrace is a few yards down stream from the one on which they stand, and is separated from it by a small ravine. The site is a little further down the stream and towards the southeast. It is shown in Fig. 1, Plate IV,[138] from the point on the hillside a few feet above it to the north, shown on the lower end of the slope in Fig. 2, Plate IV and in negative nos. 44491, 5-4, and 44492, 5-5. This circle of stones on the level ground was made up of angular rocks such as are scattered on the immediate surface. It measures ten by eleven feet in diameter inside; fifteen by seventeen feet from the top of the circle; and twenty-two by twenty-three feet over all. The top of the highest stones was from fourteen to twelve inches above the middle of the space enclosed which as before stated, seemed to be on a level with the outside, all measuring being east to west and north to south respectively. Among the rocks was found a chipped piece of jasper or brown chalcedony.

[138] Museum negative no. 44482, 4-7 from the north.

No saucer-shaped depressions were seen in the Yakima region, although it is quite probable that they formerly existed and have been obliterated by weathering. It will be remembered that such saucer-shaped depressions are often made by sweeping out the summer lodges in the Thompson River region[139] and that they marked the sites of such houses.

[139] Smith, (c), p. 405.

Two summer lodges photographed[140] by us near Ellensburg which were mentioned on page 12 and the one seen below Union Gap down stream from Old Yakima, resemble those of the Thompson River region to the north. It will be remembered that mat covered tipis are found in the Nez Perce region to the east.[141] Lewis and Clark[142] mention but one buffalo skin lodge among the Nez Perce in 1806 and that was apparently reserved for special occasions, but a few years later this type of lodge had practically supplanted the mat lodge among that tribe and was in common use among all the interior Salish and Sahaptin tribes. The mat houses of the Yakima are mentioned by Gibbs in the Pacific Railroad Reports.[143]

[140] Summer lodge, covered with cloth, Japanese matting and Indian
matting July, 1903; East of Ellensburg. Museum negatives no. 44523,
8-1 from the southeast; no. 44524, 8-2, from the west; and no.
44525, 8-3 a nearer view; and summer lodge covered with cloth, July
1903, in the northern part of Ellensburg, Museum negative no. 44526,
8-4 from the east.

[141] Spinden, Fig. 6, Plate X.

[142] Lewis and Clark, V, p. 16.

[143] Gibbs, (a), I, p. 407.

A pile of stones shown in Fig. 2, Plate V[144] and mentioned on p. 20 as uncovered by the wash of the flood waters of the Columbia, was seen on the bottom-lands on the western side of the Columbia, south of Sentinal Bluffs and within a hundred feet north of the house of Mr. Britain Everette Craig. It is possible that this may have been a house hearth or ancient cooking place, although the presence of human bones among these stones, suggests that it was a grave covered with flat oval river pebbles. Near by, uncovered by the same wash, was a small patch of fresh water unio shells shown from the west of south in Fig. 1, Plate V.[145] This was probably kitchen refuse. The little pits, each encircled with a slight embankment made up of the soil thrown out in making it, p. 15, are probably the remains of food caches near the houses.

[144] Museum negative no. 44530, 8-8 from the southwest.

[145] Museum negative no. 44531, 8-9 from the west of south.

TOOLS USED BY MEN.

A number of objects which seem to be tools intended to be used by men are found in this region. Among these may be mentioned a wedge, hammerstones, a celt, a hand-adze, drills, scrapers, and an arrow-shaft smoother.

_Wedges._ Wedges made of antler were not frequently found by us as in the Thompson River region,[146] although according to Lewis, elk horn wedges or chisels were used for splitting wood in the general plateau region of which this is a part.[147] One specimen, however (202-8378b), was found on the surface near the head of Priest Rapids, which is apparently a longitudinal fragment of a wedge broken off at the top and cut by longitudinal grooving along one edge, the other edge being a portion of the surface of the wedge formed by cutting convexly across the antler. The specimen is bleached from exposure on the surface. Another wedge, shown in Fig. 39, was found on the surface near the Columbia River below the mouth of the Snake. It is made of antler which has since been bleached from exposure on the surface of the ground.

[146] Smith, (d), p. 141; (c), p. 414.

[147] Lewis, p. 186.

The top was partly cut off and then broken across, while one side edge shows where the antler was grooved lengthwise for over half its length, from the inner surface and then broken out. This shows that the process of cutting up pieces of antler in this region was similar to that employed in cutting both antler and nephrite, in the Thompson River region and on the coast of British Columbia and Washington. It has since been battered. One side shows the nearly flat outer surface of part of the antler, the other has been cut off to form the wedge, which is constricted towards the point so that it assumes a somewhat spatulate form. This specimen is twisted, until the point is in a plane about 45° from the poll. It was collected by Mr. Owen who believes it to have been used as a spatula for grinding paint upon the surface of a rock. Wedges made of elk antler are common in the Nez Perce region where they are said to have almost completely supplanted celts.[148]

[148] Spinden, pp. 182 and 189, Fig. 5^7.

Although no wedges were found by us in the Yakima Valley proper, and we can mention only these two specimens in the whole Yakima region yet it seems probable that they were here used and for the same purposes as in the Thompson River region to the north, the Nez Perce area to the east and on the coast to the west for splitting timber, for cutting firewood and for general carpenter work. Perhaps their relative scarcity here, as compared with the Thompson and the Nez Perce country, may be explained by supposing that wooden wedges, such as are more common than antler wedges on the coast, and which may have decayed were here used more than those made of antler.

While the stone hammers or pestles with convex bases, which are described on p. 39 et seq. were probably largely used for crushing food and other material; yet some of them and those with concave bases, were undoubtedly sometimes used as hammers for driving wedges, setting stakes, pinning out skins and for similar purposes.

_Hammerstones._ The deeply pitted hammer, such as is found in the Mississippi Valley, was not seen here, and it will be remembered[149] that they were not found in the Thompson River region. Tough pebbles, however, were used for pounding. At the quarry shop mentioned on p. 16, we found a number of pebbles that were evidently used in breaking up the material out of which to make chipped implements. One of these (202-8129) is merely a water-worn pebble, 73 mm. long, an edge of which has been broken off, and a sharp corner shows signs of its having been used as a hammer, as it has been battered and shows where one large chip has come off. It will be remembered that in the vicinity of the shop where the specimen was found, pebbles were rarely if ever seen, although the surface of the ground was covered with weathered fragments of volcanic rock. Another specimen (202-8127) found at the same place, shown southeast of the quarry pit, in Fig. 1, Plate III, is 155 mm. long and of a rather irregular cross section. The ends are battered and fractured from use. Apparently it may have been held between the two hands and used in breaking off large pieces of material. A longer hammer pebble, bearing the same catalogue number, and found at the same place, shows on the top of the quarry dump to the left centre in Fig. 1, Plate III. It is about 270 mm. long. In cross section it tends to be triangular with rounded corners. The ends are battered and long slivers have been broken off. The specimen shown in Fig. 40 is from the same place, shorter, but similar in that the section is sub-triangular and that each end is both battered and slivered. Other battered pebbles and fragments slivered from them were found at the same place. The hammerstone shown in Fig. 41 was found on the surface near the head of Priest Rapids. It is an oval pebble, nearly twice as wide as it is thick, of yellowish brown color, which has been used for a hammer, as is indicated by the battered and chipped condition of its ends.

[149] Smith, (d), p. 142; (c), pp. 415 and 440, Fig. 38.

Another specimen, shown in Fig. 42, is made of a hard, dark green or bluish, water-worn pebble. It was found in the Snake River Valley, twenty miles above the mouth of the river, and is in the collection of Mr. Owen. Both ends are battered and the margins of the battered surfaces are chipped. Mr. Owen says such objects were used in pecking pestles, mortars, and similar implements into shape. Fig. 43 illustrates one of these hammerstones, found on the surface at Kennewick. It is a part of a pebble of tough dark blue material, apparently glassy basalt. One side edge and one end have been chipped and show large scars on each side of the side edge and several on one side of the top. Near the middle of one side, and opposite it on the other side edge, there are signs of pecking which suggest an attempt at grooving. The lower corner of the pebble shows signs of having been used as a hammer for pecking. A small spatulate pebble slightly curved (202-8215), found at the same place, is battered entirely around the edge of its larger end and in one place on the side of the narrow end. The battering has given it a smooth surface in places which suggests that it was used for pecking, rather than chipping. A large, rather flat, oval pebble (202-8213) from the same place has large chips off from both sides of its edge in three places, three fourths of its edge being so chipped. This seems more likely to be a hammerstone used for chipping.

The long, narrow, oval pebble, shown in Fig. 44, is about 140 mm. long, of a yellow, volcanic, coarse-grained rock, and is in the collection of Mr. Austin Mires of Ellensburg. This was found at Priest Rapids. The top is battered and slightly chipped, the other end has been battered to a rather flat edge, and this battered surface extends one half way up one side of the specimen and two thirds of the way up the other.[150] A large flat oval pebble (202-8214), found on the Cherry Creek camp site, has a notch pecked in each side edge and is battered slightly on one end. It may have been notched for hafting as a hammer, or for use as a net sinker, but the battered end suggests the former use. These pebbles which have been used as hammerstones, remind us of the unbattered pebbles found with pieces of glassy basalt in certain caches near Kamloops.[151] Pebbles used as hammerstones are also found in the Nez Perce region to the east[152] and according to Lewis stone hammers were used for splitting wood in the general plateau region of which this is a part.[153]

[150] Museum negative, no. 44534, 8-2.

[151] Described by Smith, (c), p. 415.

[152] Spinden, p. 188.

[153] Lewis, p. 186; Lewis and Clark, III, p. 124.

A pebble, oval in outline and in cross section (202-8303), found on the surface of the bank of the Columbia River, near the head of Priest Rapids, is battered on one side edge near the middle in a way that suggests that the place was for the reception of the end of a handle. The lower edge is battered and the top has a large chip off of each side. It was probably used as a hammerstone. Another flat oval pebble of lava (202-8305) found at the same place, is chipped on both sides of the entire edge; but the edge is not sharp, apparently having been dulled by scraping, the natural sand blast or weathering. A disk or sub-oblong-shaped pebble (202-8304) also found at the same place is chipped from one side only across the entire edge at a slight bevel so that it has a nearly flat edge. The high places of the edge are smoothed as if from its use in pecking, yet it does not seem to have been much used for such a purpose or to need to have been chipped into disk form for that use.

None of the pebbles which were notched and supposed to be net sinkers, as mentioned on p. 30 and that were found in this region, show battered ends or appear as if they had been used as hammers. On the other hand, some of the grooved pebbles described as net sinkers are battered, p. 30. It will be remembered[154] that no notched hammers or those grooved entirely around, like those found here, were found in the Thompson River region, although a pebble which had been notched or grooved on two edges was found and figured as a hammer.[155] Nor was the grooved stone maul used by the Nez Perce to the east according to Spinden[156] although many specimens are found on the Umatilla in northern Oregon to the south.[157]

[154] Smith, (c), p. 415.

[155] _Ibid._, Fig. 347.

[156] Spinden, p. 188.

[157] Lewis, p. 186; Lewis and Clark, III, p. 124.

_Celts._ Celts made of stone such as were common in the Thompson River region[158] were not found by us in the Yakima region; but one typical specimen which apparently resembles the celts found on Puget Sound, more than it does those found in the Thompson River region is shown in Fig. 45. It may be seen in the collection of Mr. McCandless who secured it from an Indian at Ellensburg. This celt is made of serpentine and is 190 mm. long.[159] A similar specimen, in the same collection, resembles this one but shows grooves along the side edges by means of which it was cut out. There is a celt made of green serpentine, only about 3 mm. thick in the collection of Mr. Owen, but it was found at Umatilla, Oregon.

[158] Smith, (d), p. 142; (c), p. 415.

[159] Museum negative no. 44507, 6-8.

Celts of jadeite (?) narrow and oblong were found on Snake River above Lewiston in the Nez Perce region to the east.[160] Spinden states that these were evidently acquired by trade from natives of the northwest coast and that they have been cut by grooving and breaking. Also, that this method and material was not employed by the Nez Perce who considered the objects to have been used as wedges. I am inclined to believe, therefore, that these more nearly resemble the celts of the Thompson River country[161] than they do those of the coast. At least one celt of this general style has been found near Lake Chelan lying between the Thompson River region and both the Yakima and Nez Perce regions. It is a long stone celt and was found in an ancient grave on the bank of the Chelan River near the house of Hon. Amos Edmunds, of Chelan, Washington. In the graves of this group, according to Mr. C. G. Ridout, who cooperated with Mr. Edmunds in excavating at this place, and from whom all of our information on this specimen was obtained, stone knives and skinning and scraping tools were found. This celt is of a mottled green "marble resembling onyx" (probably serpentine or nephrite) 400 mm. long, 47 mm. wide and 15 mm. thick. It is slightly concave on the two sides, while one side edge is flat and the other is concavely bevelled. The poll is of the natural unworked stone and judging from the drawing furnished by Mr. Ridout, was broken off. It is raggedly diagonal. The cutting edge is sharpened by long convexly ground surfaces of nearly equal size and curve. The bevel of the side edge suggests that the material for the celt was cut out by grooving and breaking as was the case in the Thompson River region, where the celts showed similar traces of grooving.[162] It is true that similar grooving may be seen on celts from the Coast, but in that region the celts are short, while in the Thompson River area they are long like this one and the material is more often of the mottled green color than on the coast. The specimen is owned by Mr. Edmunds and is in the collection of Mr. Ridout.

[160] Spinden, p. 182 and Figs. 1, 2, Plate IX.

[161] Smith, (c), Fig. 349.

[162] Cf. Smith, (c), Fig. 349.

No pieces of antler or other material which may possibly have served as celt hafts were found in this region, although it will be remembered that one specimen, thought possibly to have been such, was found at Kamloops in the Thompson River[163] region, another in the Lillooet Valley[164] and that celt hafts made of antler were common on the coast at Port Hammond,[165] Comox,[166] Saanich,[167] and Utsalady.[168] A piece of antler (202-8378a), found on the surface near the head of Priest Rapids, is much bleached and shows signs of having been daubed with red paint. It consists of a piece which has been cut around below a fork with some sharp instrument and then broken off. The prongs seem to be simply broken off.

[163] Smith, (c), Fig. 348, p. 115.

[164] Teit, (b), Fig. 66.

[165] Smith, (a), Figs. 29 and 59.

[166] Smith, (b), Fig. 107.

[167] _Ibid._, Figs. 129-130.

[168] _Ibid._, Fig. 157.

_Hand-Adze._ Only one hand-adze has been found in this area, so far as I am aware. It is catalogue No. 25 in the collection of Mr. Janeck, made of stone and found near the surface of an old burial ground of the Indians near the mouth of the Yakima River on what is known as McNeals Island. This specimen is shown in Fig. 46, and is 165 mm. long, 228 mm. in greatest circumference which is around the part corresponding to the edge of the striking head of a pestle, 37 mm. in diameter at the top and 37 mm. along the edge of the blade. It is made of rock resembling diorite or diabase. The natural surface of the pebble from which it was made shows on the ridge of the striking head of the pestle-like part. The convex side of the celt-like part of the object is very smooth. This is apparently partly due to the fact that it presents the smooth natural surface of the pebble from which the object was made, and also to more or less friction which must have been received here when in use. It probably served as an adze. This specimen is perhaps the most ideal form of this type that I have seen, the upper end comparing closely to a pestle, with a slight indication of a knob at the top, a flaring body, and a short striking head, the sides of which extend as a ridge nearly if not entirely around the specimen. The celt-like part is to one side of the axis, so that one side expands to meet the ridge above mentioned, forming a concavity; the other contracts to meet it forming a convex sweep from the cutting edge to the beginning of the body of the pestle-like part.[169] Such hand-adzes have been found at Portland, Columbia Slough about ten miles below Portland,[2] and Mr. E. D. Zimmerman of Philadelphia has informed me that there are five or six specimens of this type in his collection but the discovery of this specimen at McNeals Island marks the most eastern occurrence of this type, so far as I know at present.[170]

[169] Museum negatives nos. 44452, 2-1 and 44503, 6-4.

[170] First mentioned on pp. 303-304, Noteworthy Archaeological
Specimens from Lower Columbia Valley, by Harlan I. Smith, American
Anthropologist, (N. S.) Vol. VIII, No. 2, April-June, 1906.

_Whetstones._ Whetstones, recognized as such, are rare in the Yakima region but a fragment (202-8217) of a sandstone pebble, which is apparently rubbed on the irregular sides was found on the surface of the little camp site, west of Cherry Creek, near Ellensburg. It probably served as a rough whetstone or for grinding implements into shape.

The cigar-shaped object made of friable stone, shown in Fig. 69, and considered on p. 81 as a war implement or "slave-killer," is suitable for use as a whetstone and may have been such. The object thought to be a whetstone shown in Fig. 120, is in the collection of Mr. Janeck, and is said to be from the Yakima Valley. It is made of friable slate; the top is broken off. It is 142 mm. long, 18 mm. wide and 6 mm. thick with rounded edges. The circle and dot design incised on the specimen is described on p. 131. It would seem that use as a whetstone would destroy the design.[171] From the whole region, I have seen only these three specimens that can be considered as whetstones. This scarcity seems somewhat remarkable when we consider their abundance in the Thompson River region,[172] and also on the coast at Port Hammond and Eburne in the Fraser Delta,[173] Comox,[174] North Saanich[175] Victoria,[176] New Dungeness,[177] and Port Williams.[178]

[171] Museum negative no. 44503, 6-4.

[172] Smith, (d), p. 144; (c), p. 417.

[173] Smith (a), p. 167.

[174] Smith (b), p. 312

[175] _Ibid._, p. 339.

[176] _Ibid._, p. 360.

[177] _Ibid._, p. 389.

[178] _Ibid._, p. 392.

Beaver teeth sharpened for use as knives, such as were found in the Thompson River region,[179] were not found by us in this whole area any more than in the Fraser Delta,[180] although they were present at Comox,[181] and though not certainly identified at both Saanich[182] and Burton.[183] However, a beaver tooth was found (202-8189) in cremation rectangle No. 21 (16) on the flat overlooking the mouth of the Naches River. Objects that are considered as knife handles, such as were found at Lytton,[184] though not certainly at Kamloops[185] were absent here as in the Fraser Delta.[186] Objects made of bone or antler and thought to have been used for flaking stone implements were also absent.

[179] Smith (d), p. 144; (c). p. 417.

[180] Smith (a), p. 168.

[181] Smith (b), p. 318.

[182] _Ibid._, p. 346.

[183] _Ibid._, p. 398.

[184] Smith (d), Fig. 50.

[185] Smith (c), p. 418.

[186] Smith (a), p. 168.

_Drills._ Drill points chipped from stone are perhaps less abundant in the Yakima country than in the Thompson River region[187] to the north. They are found of various shapes in the Nez Perce region[188] to the east but it will be remembered that they were not certainly identified among finds from the coast.[189] The specimen shown in Fig. 47, was collected at the head of Priest Rapids, and presented by Mrs. J. B. Davidson of Ellensburg. It is chipped from a grayish chalcedony. The shaft is rather blunt at the end, possibly having been broken off, and is somewhat lozenge-shaped in cross section although one side has a less pronounced ridge than the other which causes the section to tend towards the sub-triangular. The base expands sidewise and is somewhat thinner at the end than at the shaft although it is thicker than the point. A point somewhat similar in shape, but 57 mm. long, chipped from white chalcedony, and found at Priest Rapids, was seen in the collection of Mr. Austin Mires. Another drill point chipped from black trap, 48 mm. long, and also found at Priest Rapids, was seen in the same collection. The shaft expands sidewise into a base of the form of a truncated triangle which is rather thin. Fig. 48 shows a drill point chipped from reddish brown chert that was found on the surface near the head of Priest Rapids. The upper portion resembles the first-mentioned specimen and the lower part is somewhat similar to it but more lenticular in cross section. In other words, the implement is either double-pointed or it was intended to chip away the lower part. The lower point is so well chipped to form that it seems more likely to be a double-pointed drill.

[187] Smith (d), p. 148; (c), p. 419.

[188] Spinden, p. 185, Figs. 23-25, Plate VII.

[189] Smith (a), p. 190; (b), p. 438.

Holes which have been drilled and apparently with such drills as these are seen in the stone objects shown in Figs. 34, 77, 81, 99, 105, 119. The shell object shown in Fig. 88 probably was broken; but in Figs. 76, 79, 90, 91, 93 and 94, the shell seems drilled and in Fig. 73 the antler is drilled.

_Scrapers._ For scraping and shaving, the objects shown in Figs. 49-52 would have been useful. One side of these consists of a large facet, as in the case of Fig. 50, or is but slightly chipped. This surface on the first two specimens shows the bulb of percussion, while on the fourth all signs of the bulb have apparently been obliterated by secondary chipping along a longitudinal third, probably done to flatten the side, although as this scraper was made from a fragment of a flake rather than from the whole flake it is possible that the bulb was not on this piece. In the third specimen the bulb does not show as the object was not made from a flake but from a thin piece of chalcedony which shows striations upon both surfaces suggesting that it may have been the filling or cast of a seam from which it has separated. The upper ends of the first two specimens are somewhat convex on this surface probably because of the bulb of percussion. The lower or wider ends, which are chipped to a scraping edge from the opposite side on all the specimens are somewhat concave or at least flat as in the third specimen. The other two are not so regular in outline, but are also chipped like a scraper at the broad end and the side edges. The specimen shown in Fig. 52 was found on the surface of the little camp site on Cherry Creek, near Ellensburg, and is of a waxy, yellowish brown chalcedony. It is shaped something like a gun flint.

There is a scraper 66 mm. long made of a greenish slate in the collection of Mrs. Davidson to whom it was presented by Mr. Owen. It is somewhat tongue-shaped and slightly concave-convex. The base is broken while the curved edge is slightly chipped on the convex side to form an edge. The point is rather thin and has been somewhat rubbed. Red paint has been daubed on the specimen which suggests that it may have been found in a grave. It will be remembered that scrapers were found, although not so frequently, in the Thompson River region[190] to the north and that in the Nez Perce region to the east,[191] they are usually irregular in form, flat on one side and convex on the other. While their chief use may have been for skin scraping, they are found by experiment to be excellent implements for planing wood, and may well have served for the scraping down of arrow-shafts, spear-shafts, and for similar work.

[190] Smith (c), p. 418.

[191] Spinden, p. 185 and Fig. 5^6.

Some of the chipped points described on p. 23 may have been used for knife points. Among these there are a number of specimens which were particularly suited for this use. The specimen shown in Fig. 6 may have served as a knife, possibly one used for ceremonial purposes although it may have been used as a spear point. These knives, being somewhat symmetrical differ from the one found at Kamloops[192] in the Thompson River region which was similar in shape to the knives used until recently by the Thompson River Indians.[193] These knives from the Thompson River region are chipped much more from one side than from the other and have curved points. The specimen shown in Fig. 3 (202-8336) has an absolutely flat base which is apparently an unworked portion of the block from which the object was chipped. It is possibly an unfinished arrow point, but its outline suggests that it is a knife point. The specimen shown in Fig. 2 is chipped from waxy red chalcedony. It has a straight end and one edge of the point is slightly more curved than the other, which together with the fact that one side is nearly flat suggests that it may have been one of those points which are considered to have been used for knives rather than for arrow or spear points. The specimen (202-8369) shown in Fig. 1 may have served either as the tip for an arrow or as a knife point, and it may be compared with the much more deeply serrated points found in the Thompson River region.[194]

[192] Smith (c), p. 418, Fig. 352d.

[193] Teit, (a), Figs. 125-126.

[194] Smith (d), Figs. 8 to 19; (c), Figs. 332 i-j and 334.

_Arrow-shaft Smoothers._ Arrow-shaft smoothers, made of coarse sandstone like those from the Thompson River region,[195] were not found by us in this area nor on the coast;[196] but one of these grooved stones was seen in the collection of Mr. E. R. McDonald at Ellensburg. It was collected by Mr. Dick Williams, of the same place, who found it on the west bank of the Columbia River, twenty miles north of Priest Rapids, Kittitas County. It is made of a salmon-colored gritstone, and is of the usual type, semi-cylindrical with a longitudinal groove on the flat side, in this case a very small groove such as might occur if it had not been much used. In the Nez Perce region to the east,[197] according to Spinden, there have been found an arrow-shaft smoother made up of two somewhat rectangular blocks of light tufa, each with a semi-cylindrical groove in one side and a soapstone object which he considers to be an arrow-shaft polisher, but I have considered this as a mat presser.

[195] Smith (d), p. 145; (c), p. 419.

[196] Smith (a), p. 190; (b), p. 438.

[197] Spinden, p. 187, Fig. 32, Plate VII.

TOOLS USED BY WOMEN.

A number of implements were found which may have served for the preparation of skins and for sewing. Among these may be mentioned skin scrapers, awls, a needle, and a mat presser.

_Scrapers Chipped from Stone._ The scrapers chipped from stone, shown in Figs. 49 to 52, and considered among tools used by men on pp. 67-68, may possibly have been used on skins although they seem rather small for such a purpose. The specimen shown in Fig. 53, made from a flat circular pebble was found on the surface of the bank of the Columbia River, near the head of Priest Rapids. The edges are chipped in such a way that it has been brought somewhat to the form of a square. This object would serve well as a skin scraper if hafted in the split end of a stick and used like similar implements seen in use by us among the natives of the Thompson River region.[198] It resembles archaeological specimens from the same area.[199] In the Nez Perce region to the east[200] a disk-shaped spall struck from a boulder was used for skin scraping. Another form, shown in Fig. 54, is chipped from a pebble, probably a flat circular one. Along one side, the surface of the pebble shows, but on the other it has been completely chipped away. In outline, the object is elliptical, but has a slight tendency to be pointed at each end. It is lenticular in section, with the edges jaggedly sharp. This reminds us of certain specimens found at Columbus and The Dalles, which have the same general shape, but are ground and polished, so that no signs of chipping remain on some of them. It seems probable that this specimen is a roughed-out form of the same kind, which may have been used in its present condition, or was intended to be finished by grinding and polishing. It seems quite likely that this implement may have been hafted in the end of a split stick and used as a skin scraper, similar to those previously mentioned. On the other hand, it may have been held in the hand and used in scraping skins or perhaps as a knife. It was found with another on the surface of the bank of the Columbia River, near the head of Priest Rapids. Another of these (202-8117) was found on the surface at Kennewick. The specimen shown in Fig. 55 is simply an oval water-worn pebble with one edge chipped on both sides. It is 115 mm. long by 16 mm. thick, may be an unfinished object, if not a scraper or knife, and was found on the surface of the bank of the Columbia River near the head of Priest Rapids.

[198] Teit (a), Fig. 1, Plate XIV, and Fig. 127.

[199] Smith (d), Fig. 64; (c), Fig. 355.

[200] Spinden, p. 215.

_Scrapers Rubbed from Bone._ Scrapers made of bone, similar to those found by us in the Thompson River region and in the vicinity of Puget Sound[201] were not seen in the Yakima region.

[201] Smith (d), Figs. 65 and 66; (c), Fig. 356; (a), Fig. 34; Teit
(a), Figs. 128 and 129.

_Awls Rubbed from Bone._ Awls made of bone have been found in this area. The specimens made of stone, mentioned on p. 25 among chipped points, and on p. 66 among drills may have been used by women for the same purposes. The specimen shown in Fig. 56, was found on the surface of an island in the Columbia River near the mouth of the Snake, and it is bleached from exposure. It was collected and presented by Mr. D. W. Owen. The specimen shown in Fig. 57, was found on an island in the Columbia River, forty miles above the mouth of the Snake, and it is bleached from exposure on the surface. The shaft is nearly circular in cross section and tapers to a point for one half its length. The base ends in a flat elbow piece. The outline of the end of this projection is rounded. The specimen was collected and presented by Mr. D. W. Owen.

No awls made from the proximal part of the ulna of the deer were seen by us in this area, although it will be remembered they were found in the Thompson River region[202] and are reported from the Nez Perce region to the east by Spinden who says that they were used in braiding rope.[203] We found them on the coast of British Columbia and Washington.[204] The same remarks are true of awls made of the distal end of the metapodial of the deer.[205]

[202] Smith (c), Fig. 357.

[203] Spinden, p. 189, Plate VII, Fig. 29.

[204] Smith (a), p. 170 (_Eburne and Hammond_); (b), p. 317,
(_Comox_); p. 347 (_Saanich_); p. 377, (_Stanwood_); p. 389, (_New
Dungeness_).

[205] Smith (d), Fig. 74; (c), Fig. 357; (a), Fig. 35, (_Eburne_);
(b), p. 317, (_Comox_); p. 348, (_Saanich_).

This seems rather interesting since these two kinds of awls, each made of a special bone are so commonly found and so widely distributed in America that it seems hardly possible that they may not yet be found in this region. Simple sharpened bone implements which are said to have been used as awls are found in the Nez Perce region[206] where according to Spinden, a small awl was used in making basketry but we saw none in the Yakima region not considered to be points for arrows or spears.

[206] Spinden, p. 189, Plate VII, Figs. 27 and 28.

_Needles._ Only one object which may be considered as a needle was seen by us in the Yakima region, and it will be remembered that they are rare on the coast of British Columbia and Washington, except in the Lower Fraser[207] country, although they were common in the Thompson River region.[208] This specimen shown in Fig. 58 is a long needle-like object, No. 13, in the collection of Mr. Janeck. The object is warped or bent like the needles used in the Puget Sound country to string cat-tail stalks together in order to make mats. This specimen is 291 mm. long. The point is sharpened and although the side edges are flat, it somewhat resembles a paper knife. At a point nearly one third of its length from the base, it is perforated through the middle by gouging from each side. The base is notched, in such a way that the object is bilaterally symmetrical as shown in the illustration. It may possibly but not probably have served as a sap scraper.[209]

[207] Smith, (a), Fig. 36.

[208] Smith (d), Figs. 76-78; (c), Fig. 358.

[209] Museum negative no. 44503 (6-4).