First Nations Gallery: Technology
Transportation
Long before cars, even before horses, First Nations had devised many ingenious ways to move themselves and their possessions over land and water.
Dog Days
The relationship between dogs and people is an ancient partnership. Dogs carried items either in packs or on a travois. A dog could pull about 40 kg on a travois or carry about 20 kg in a pack on its back. A family had to own many dogs in order to move all of its possessions.
Of all the specialized containers that First Nations made, none was more innovative than the cradleboard. This carrying device kept babies safe, whether in camp or on the move.
Travel in the forest during winter would be extremely difficult without snowshoes. They make it possible to walk with little difficulty across the thick soft snow that accumulates in the forest.
Horse Days
Horses arrived in Saskatchewan from the south about AD 1750. The horse quickly became a symbol of wealth and status. Young men proved their courage by stealing horses. Individuals and families demonstrated their generosity by giving horses to families who had none.
A horse could pull and carry about three times what a dog could. Nevertheless, dogs remained important for packing goods, for hunting, and for warning the camp of intruders.
Beaded pad saddles such as this one were used on special occasions when both horse and rider wore their best outfits. Both men and women used this type of saddle.
Motor Days
With cars, planes, snowmobiles, and outboard motors, people are now able to travel farther, faster, and in greater comfort. This is especially so in the north. Planes don't have to detour around rapids or muskeg, and even the most distant hunting or fishing camp is only a few hours away.
Maintaining motorized technology often requires ingenuity. This bone rotor was made to temporarily replace the broken metal piece on an outboard motor, thereby allowing the owner to complete the last 70 km of his journey!
Stone Tool Technology
People used a variety of materials, including wood, bone, stone, shell, and fibre, to make tools, but archaeologists most often recover stone tools from sites. The study of stone tools provides information about people's work, their history, their travels, and their relationships with surrounding nations.
Choosing the Right Stone
Stone tools are made by removing flakes from large pieces to create the desired shape. However, not all stone is equally suited for making tools. Fine-grained stone material was good for making tools that required fine flaking, such as projectile points and small end scrapers. These types of stone are easily flaked and produce a very sharp edge. However, the edges can be easily dulled or broken. Tough rocks such as quartzite are best suited for tools for heavy use, such as scraping hides, breaking bones to extract the marrow, or pounding chokecherries.
A wide variety of stone types were available throughout Saskatchewan. Some types are widely distributed in river beds and glacial till deposits. Other are found only in localized quarries. Many tools were made from stone materials which do not occur naturally in Saskatchewan. Some of these have been traded throughout North America for many thousands of years.
Many tools were maintained for as long as possible by resharpening the edges. When it became too small to use, it was discarded. Sometimes, a badly broken tool was reworked into a completely different tool.
Weapons Systems of the Past
Projectile points were part of multi-component weapons systems. The size of the stone point changed as different types of systems were developed.
The earliest system was the spear. Large points were hafted to the ends of long wooden shafts and where thrown or thrust into the prey. Spears were used from about 12,000 to 8000 years ago.
Mid-sized points were hafted to a short wooden stem, called a foreshaft, which fit onto a longer wooden shaft. This dart was thrown with the aid of a throwing stick or atlatl. The atlatl-and-dart system was used from about 8000 to about 1500 years ago.
Small points were hafted to arrows which were shot with bows. This system allowed a hunter to shoot prey with greater accuracy. The bow-and-arrow system was used from approximately 2000 to 300 years ago, when it was replaced by firearms.
For further information contact the Curator of Aboriginal History.
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