The Archaeology of the Yakima ValleySmith, Harlan Ingersoll
History
The Archaeology of the Yakima Valley
Smith, Harlan Ingersoll
Yakima River Valley (Wash.) -- Antiquities
In Fig. 105 is illustrated a fragment of a sculptured tubular pipe made
from steatite by cutting or scratching and drilling the soft material
rather than by pecking. It was apparently intended to represent an
anthropoid form. The mouth is indicated by an incision, the other
features of the head are more difficult to determine, but both the arm
and the leg stand out in high relief. As previously suggested on p. 111,
this style of art slightly resembles that found in the region from the
Lillooet Valley to the Lower Willamette and as far east at least as The
Dalles.[404] It is possible that some of the sculptures found in the
Thompson River region[405] adjoining the Lillooet Valley on the east and
the Yakima region on the north, may be somewhat related to the style of
art of this fragmentary pipe. The human form shown in Fig. 121 has been
discussed on p. 127 as it is incised rather than carved in the round.
Clark mentions a "malet of stone curiously carved,"[406] which he says
was used by the Indians near the mouth of the Snake River and Eells[407]
mentions two stone carvings from the general area of which this is a
part which he describes as horses' heads. If this interpretation be
correct, the carvings are evidently modern. The fish form shown in Fig.
119 has been mentioned on p. 127.
[404] Teit, (b), Figs. 68 and 95-97; Smith, (d), Fig. 183 and
especially Figs. 195b and 198.
[405] Smith, (d), Fig. 113; (b), Fig. 185a.
[406] Lewis and Clark, III, p. 124.
[407] Eells, p. 293.
[Illustration: Fig. 127. Pipe made of Stone. From a hillside grave on
Toppenish Creek near Fort Simcoe. Collected by Mrs. Lynch. 1/2 nat.
size. (Now in the collection of Mr. George G. Heye, New York.)]
The very form of the pestle shown in Fig. 34 and the symmetrical outline
of the club shown in Fig. 62 are in themselves somewhat artistic, while
the fact that the pipe shown in Fig. 113 somewhat represents a tomahawk
or hatchet suggests that it may have been sculptured as representative
art. It seems likely that it was modelled after the metal tomahawk pipe
introduced by the traders which of course would indicate that it was
recently made.
[Illustration: Fig. 128. Sculptured and Inlaid Pipe made of Steatite
with Wooden Stem. From Chief Moses of the Yakima Region. 1/2 nat. size.
(Drawn from photograph 44508, 6-9, 6-10, 6-11. Original in the
collection of Mrs. Lynch.)]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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