Making Baskets

• Cactus spines made excellent awls for sewing.cactus image by KALISTE A from Fotolia.com
  
  Native Americans scraped and trimmed plant fibers for making baskets using obsidian blades. For more intricate Native-American baskets, the weaver used sewing awls made from cactus spines or bones, or employed her own teeth to split fibers into smaller sections.
  
  

Using Bones and Horns as Tools

• Drinking and eating utensils were often made from animal horns.corne et pierre ponce image by Jean-Michel POUGET from Fotolia.com
  
  Bison shoulder bones fashioned into hoes helped Native Americans prepare soil and cultivate crops. Animal horns doubled as vessels and ladles for food use, and filed or shaped deer antlers became scraping tools for animals hides or weapons.
  
  

Versatile Shell Tools

• Shells served as spoons and ladles.mussel shells image by Alison Bowden from Fotolia.com
  
  Mussel shells made good corn-kernel scrapers. Larger shells did double-duty as hide-scrapers or hoes for farming.
  
  

Shaping and Using Arrowheads and Knives

• Hunting required many sharp tools.indian arrowhead image by Jim Mills from Fotolia.com
  
  Hunting provided much of the food for Native American peoples, creating the need for arrowheads, knives, spears, and daggers of bone or shaped stone. Animal bones or antlers served as spear shafts and handles for stone blades.
  
  

Features of Manos and Metates

• A handheld stone called a mano was used for chipping or grinding.composite rock. image by mdb from Fotolia.com
  
  Large stone slabs called metates were platforms for grinding corn, nuts and herbs, and also served as work areas for shaping stone or bone tools. Native Americans then used different-sized manos, or handheld stones of granite or igneous rock, in conjunction with metates to chip, flake or shape other tools.