Yaocomaco Work & Tools

The entire Yaocomaco community very likely joined together often to build structures and clear fields. Working in groups made many tasks possible but the responsibility for most tasks seem to have been clearly divided between the sexes. Women generally maintained and managed the witchotts, saw to the care of children, and kept the village running smoothly. They were responsible for the field crops and foraging, and all processing and cooking of foods. They made clothing, mats, pots, and baskets, and preserved hides. Girls spent time watching and practicing these skills. Men generally cleared land to prepare fields and did the hunting and fishing. They were also responsible for protecting the tribe. They gathered materials for and made all the necessary tools. Grinding and knapping (breaking or flaking) stone and making dugout canoes, fish nets, and other implements were skills they began learning as boys. Renewable natural resources were used to produce a wide variety of tools including:

Fire was a very important tool. Dugout methods (burning, then scraping or chopping out) were employed on the log canoes used for transportation and fishing, and on mortars for grinding grain, bowls, and smaller utensils. Fire was also used to smooth or seal the ends of posts or wooden handles.

Stone tools made by grinding or knapping included celts (axes) for felling trees and house building, knives and flakes for cutting and scraping, stone bits for drilling holes, and stone arrowheads for hunting with bow and arrow.

Bone tools included antlers for knapping or splitting wood, sharpened long bones of large animals for scraping, and split and ground bones for needles, awls, fish hooks, and fishing spears.

Cordage made of plant fibers, bark, animal sinew, or whole plants was used to tie poles, to make fish nets, for holdings tools together, and for sewing, mat making, and other general purpose needs.

Mats made with grasses woven, bundled, or sewn were used for covering structures and sleeping platforms.

Baskets and bags were made of bark, splints, grasses, and vines which were woven and twined. They were used for storage and harvest.

Pottery (large or small and round-bottomed) was made by coiling and paddling methods. Pots were fired carefully in a very hot open fire and used as cook pots, bowls, or storage containers.