Tools and Implements

“In the old times, women used to do the hunting because men didn't know how to hunt. Bluejay wasn't married and Coyote wanted her for his wife. He thought he could hunt as well as she could so he took her arrow away from her. All the men went out hunting. Coyote said that the best hunter would marry Bluejay. There was a long line of deer going over a mountain. Little Red Bug shot one arrow and it went through all the deer, killing them. He was the best hunter and was going to marry Bluejay. Coyote was so angry and jealous he decided women wouldn't be hunters. Coyote always spoils everything.”

Tools for hunting, harvesting, building, food preparation, tanning and sewing were made from obsidian, chalcedony, agate, chert and other types of stone, bone, sinew and plant material. Chert, a flint-like material, and obsidian had multiple uses. Chert was collected from numerous quarries in Red Rock Canyon. Obsidian, probably in the form of a quarry block, was obtained through trading with neighbors to the northeast.

Juniper was used to make bows. Bowstrings were made of twisted sinew. Several different types of arrows were used, depending on their purpose. Arrow points were made of obsidian or other stone. Pointed digging sticks, flat-ended poles and long poles, sometimes hooked, were used by the women to collect plants and nuts. Fish hooks and awls were made from bone. Nets, made of 3-ply twine, were stretched out to catch rabbits. Cordage, usually 3-ply, was made of nettle or milkweed stems, pondweed, or slippery elm.

Some pottery shards have been found, but pottery was primarily acquired through trading. Contemporary Kawaiisu cite memories of a dark gray ware that was made by the older women, but it is thought to be relatively recent.