Plains Indian Studies - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

138 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY
much larger body of literature available on the
Mesquakie, or as they have been labelled by
Euro-Americans, the Fox (cf, Ward, 1909; Michelson,
1919; Jones, 1939; Tax, 1955; Gearing,
Netting and Peattie, 1960; Gearing, 1970; Mc-
Taggart, 1976; A. Wanatee, 1978; D. Wanatee,
1978; Waseskuk, 1978). The archeological evidence
for artifacts fashioned from the valves of
freshwater mussels is presented next. Specimens
illustrated here are from the collections of the
Iowa State University Archaeological Laboratory
(ISU). Finally the discussion ends with some reflections
on the necessity for working out welldocumented
ethnographic parallels in archeology
and, more importantly, the significance of archeological
and historical data in helping to understand
living people (cf, Gradwohl, 1978). In these
ways the study of the past can be relevant not
only to the present but to the future as well.
Use of Mollusk Shells by Native Americans
In perusing the historic and ethnographic literature
pertaining to the Indians first encountered
by the Europeans in what is now the northeastern
and middle Atlantic regions of the United
States, I am aware of only one reference to the
use of mussel shells as implements for removing
corn kernels from the cob. In the early eighteenth
century John Gyles was taken captive by Native
Americans in northern New England. There he
(Gyles, 1736:11) observed and later recorded the
following procedure among his captors:
When the Corn is in the Milk they gather a large kettle and
boil it on the Ears till its pretty hard, and then they take it
up and shell it from the Cobb with Clam Shells ....
Further research may well reveal additional specific
references, but most sources are vexingly
vague as to the techniques of detaching kernels
from the cob.
Admittedly, some observers report that corn
was "shelled," "removed," "shaved," "stripped
off," "scraped," or "sliced" from the cob without
bothering to indicate what tool was used to detach
the kernels. The lack of references to implements
could be taken as an indication that the
corn was merely shelled by hand. There are.
however, some specific references to shell implements
in the early historic journals. The nature
of these sources suggests that the use of mussel
valves as corn shellers would have been reported
more extensively if, indeed, shells were employed
generally for that purpose. In 1612, for example.
Captain John Smith noted that Native Americans
in Virginia employed shell scrapers along
with charring to fashion wooden platters for corn
meal (Rasmussen, 1975:68), while in 1634 William
Wood observed Indians in New England
using "clamme shell-hooes" in tending their gardens
of corn (Rasmussen, 1975:71). In his treatise
of 1705, Robert Beverley illustrated a cockle shell
spoon along with other dining accouterments
being used by Indians in Virginia and commented
that "the spoons which they eat with, do
generally hold half a pint; and they laugh at the
English for using small ones, which they must be
forc'd to carry so often to their Mouths, that their
Arms are in danger of being tir'd, before their
Belly" (Beverley, 1968:182-184). In 1749 while
traveling through New Jersey, Peter Kalm
(1972:220-221) recorded his observation of sharp
shells being used as knives in various cutting
functions and as scrapers in the manufacture of
canoes.
The kinds of observations made by Smith
(1977), Wood (1967), Beverely, and Kalm are
reflected in the general but more extensive studies
pertaining to the use of shells by Native Americans.
The utilization of mussel valves in shelling
corn is not mentioned by William H. Holmes
(1883), W.J. Wintemberg (1908), Herbert W.
Kuhm (1937), or M.R. Harrington (1938) in their
comprehensive reviews and case studies. Those
sources, however, document an impressive array
of uses for shells as cups, dishes, spoons, knives,
celts, scrapers, rasps, hoes, digging tools, fishhooks,
fish lures, fish scalers, arrowheads, razors,
tweezers, awls, punches, gaming pieces, musical
instruments, and various ornaments including
beads, pendants, pins, and gorgets. In certain
areas of North America shells were used as currency
or as symbols in dry paintings; in other
areas, crushed shells served as tempering for pottery.