Native American Artifacts from around the area will be on display in Smithville Saturday.
Artifact Show Organizer Mike Foster said the show has been running for about a decade. Foster said fewer artifacts have been found in recent years because farmers are plowing fields less often, but there are still some in the area.
“This was a major site for Native Americans years ago, and they primarily moved out of this area by about 1800,” Foster said. “But they left a lot of, you know, flint, pottery and what not in the area where they were.”
Foster said in addition to flint and 100-year-old pottery, beads will also be on display. Foster said the show artifacts are in varying condition, but many are still in very good shape.
Foster said some of the artifacts may have been intentionally broken by Native Americans. He said the act of “killing” an artifact was believed to release the spirit attached to it.
Foster said the flint was used to construct tools like arrows, spears, scrapers, and axes. He said there is reasonable evidence that Native Americans crafted some of those tools in the area.
“Where I live here, there’s a sight down the creek where they got flint because you can see where they broke it out of the bluff and made arrowheads,” Foster said. “And up on top of the hill, we find arrowheads and stuff in the garden, the pasture and what not. We used to find a lot of them, but they’re getting harder to find now.”
Foster said pottery was used cooking and storage, while other items were for decoration.
Foster said it is important to preserve Native American artifacts, especially since they lived in the region as recently as a couple hundred years ago.
“It’s just a way to kind of show our respect to them some and kind of preserve their history,” Foster said. “And try to educate people about it. They were actually here, and lived here a lot longer than we did.”
Foster said the Native American Artifact show will take place at the Mike Foster Multi-Purpose Center in Smithville on Saturday from 8am to 2pm. Admission to the show is free.