Thompson (Nlaka'pamux) Root-Digger: Serviceberry Stick, Point Bent and Fire-Hardened, Loose in a Cross Handle so It Reverses (Teit, 1900)

"The stick is inserted loosely in the handle, so that it can be reversed when one point gets dull."

Cut a stick of serviceberry or other hard wood 2 to 2½ ft (60-75 cm) long (thickness ours: about 2.5 cm). Point it with a slight bend near the tip (ours: point both ends so it reverses).

Char the point a little in the fire to make it tougher, then scrape off the loose char (scraping ours).

Make a short cross-handle of wood (or horn) with a hole through the middle, and push the stick through loosely. When the point dulls, pull it out and turn it end for end.

From James Teit, *The Thompson Indians of British Columbia*, **Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, Jesup North Pacific Expedition** vol. I part IV (1900), p. 231 and Fig. 212 (checked on the archive.org scan cihm_16242). By 1900 iron rods with a wooden handle had mostly replaced it. Women carried a small basket on the back while digging and emptied it into a larger one. Thickness and the double point are ours.