_Shell Heaps._ Small heaps of fresh water clam shells, as before mentioned among the resources of the region on p. 22, were seen; but these being only about five feet in diameter and two or three inches thick are hardly comparable to the immense shell heaps of the coast. These fresh water shells were probably secured from the river near by, where such mollusks now live. Shell fish probably formed only a small part of the diet of the people although dried sea clams may have been secured from the coast by bartering. The objects made of sea shell mentioned among the resources of this region as probably secured from the coast through channels of trade, suggest that the same method was employed for obtaining certain food products from a distance. In fact, Lewis and Clark inform us that the tribes of this general region carried on considerable trade with those of the lower Columbia. Shell heaps of this character, however, are found in the Nez Perce region. Spinden[73] states that no shell heaps except of very small size are found, but occasionally those of a cubic foot or more in size are seen in the loamy banks of the rivers, noting a few near the junction of the South and Middle forks of Clearwater River, and also near the confluence of the North fork with the Clearwater. These seem to be the remains of single meals that had been buried or cast into holes. [73] Spinden, p. 177. _Digging Sticks._ The gathering of roots is suggested by the presence of digging stick handles. One of these (Fig. 126) is made of the horn of a rocky mountain sheep and was secured from an Indian woman living near Union Gap below Old Yakima. The perforation, near the middle of one side for the reception of the end of the digging stick, is nearly square but has bulging sides and rounded corners. The smaller end of the object is carved, apparently to represent the head of an animal. Similar handles, some of them of wood, others of antler and with perforations of the same shape, were seen in Mr. Janeck's collection. It will be remembered that such digging stick handles made of antler were found in the Thompson River region among both archaeological finds and living natives,[74] the archaeological specimens being of antler, the modern handles of wood or horn. [74] Smith, (d), p. 137; (c), p. 411; Teit, (a), p. 231. The digging stick was one of the most necessary and characteristic implements of the Nez Perce region to the east, the handle consisting of a piece of bone or horn perforated in the middle for the reception of the end of the digging stick, or, according to Spinden, an oblong stone with a transverse groove in the middle lashed at right angles to the stick.[75] No archaeological specimens which are certainly digging stick handles were found on the coast. No sap scrapers such as were collected in the Thompson River region[76] were identified and they have not been recognized among specimens from the coast. [75] Spinden, p. 200. Fig. 33, Plate VII.