Local heritage

MATTAWA — An atlatl is definitely a help when throwing a spear, at least according to the children trying it out during Archaeology Days at the Wanapum Herritage Center.

Presenter Tom Bailor showed the children how to use it — the blunt end of the spear in the socket on the atlatl, aim high and throw. He showed them how it had evolved; an unknown engineer added a notch that functions as a handle.

“That’s actually easier,” said a participant as he threw the spear at a plastic deer serving as a target.

Archaeology Days is sponsored by the Wanapum Heritage Center and is designed to show children how the Wanapum adapted to the world around them. Youth Day was Tuesday, and presenters gave the children a glimpse into the way of life thousands of years ago.

Bailor called it experimental archaeology.

“The idea is, until you try the technology, you don’t really understand how it works,” he said.

Shawn Brigman demonstrated a few of the techniques and showed the children the materials needed to build a canoe. He brought a canoe made with traditional materials for the frame and a modern covering. That one the children could get close to and examine — a bark canoe is not really at home on dry land.

“When it’s out of the water it’s more fragile,” Brigman said. “When it’s out on the water it rehydrates and comes alive again.”

The canoe showed how the experiences of the inhabitants shaped their customs — that version of an Inland Northwest canoe took its cue from sturgeon, which are a common fish along the Columbia and Snake rivers.

The canoe demonstrated a couple of important things about the way of life back in the day. People used the natural materials available to them to fashion what they needed. And the residents of a village worked together to make the process as efficient as possible.

Brigman said it takes him two to three months to build a canoe when he’s working alone.

“For a bark canoe the village could get it one in a week to two weeks,” he said.

Lloyd Barkley showed children how prehistoric specialists took volcanic glass, a rock and a piece of bone and fashioned spearheads and arrowheads. He and Bailor called them projectile points since the spear made its appearance long before the bow and arrow.

Barkley showed a group of interested children how the projectile point would be attached to the shaft, and got a question he admitted he couldn’t answer.

“Is that what King Saul threw at David?” asked a boy watching the demonstration.

Archaeology Days also included stations that had lessons on geology and wildlife, the flora and fauna of the desert and how those things helped shape the Wanapum way of life, and that of other indigenous people

“The land provided for us,” Barkley said. “It was our Walmart.”

He showed the children how the chemicals in animal sinew mixed with the chemicals in human saliva to produce glue while the sinew remained pliable. It was used to lash the projectile point to the shaft. Brigman explained how the bark of the bitter cherry tree, peeled when it was green, was crucial in lashing the cover of a bark canoe to the frame.

“The bitter cherry bark is nature’s rubber band,” Brigman said.

A mix of pine tree pitch and bear fat provided the means to make it waterproof, he said.

“I talk about prehistoric life skills,” Barkley said.

He learned the techniques that go into making projectile points as part of his job evaluating cultural sites across the Pacific Northwest, he said. The process leaves a specific kind of debris, which was most easily recognized by actually making the objects. Barkley said experience helps in getting the results he wants.

“It’s all practice,” he said. “I’m still practicing.”

There was also a day for adults, which included lectures along with some of the demonstrations. The heritage center’s permanent display, “Life as a Wanapum,” and the temporary exhibit hall were open too. Wanapum Heritage Center director Lela Buck said the goal was to show people the Wanapum way of life.

“The Wanapum were here, and the Wanapum are still here,” she said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.

Editor's Note: The Columbia Basin Herald would like to express our appreciation to the Wanapum people for welcoming us at Archaeology Days and allowing us the opportunity to share the experience with our readers.