Platform Index |
Vol 1:
1 |
Vol 2:
1
2
3
4 |
Vol 3:
1
2
3
4 |
Vol 4:
1
2
3
4 |
Vol 5:
1
2
3
4 |
Vol 6:
1
2
3
4 |
THE PLATFORM
-a publication of the Minnesota Knappers Guild-
Editor: Gene Altiere
4329 Peabody Ln.
Duluth, MN 55804
VOLUME 2, NO. 3
August, 1990
THERE IS NO MORE FREE
LUNCH
...WELL,..MAYBE JUST ONE
Sorry boys and girls but the wife
of the editor has said it is
either no more footing the bill for the newsletter or no more money for knapping
material. GUESS WHICH ONE IS GOING TO WIN OUT?????? It's hard to "keep
the chips flying" when there is nothing to chip on! The editor did persuade
her that there should be at least ONE MORE free issue. We will finish 1990
with the November issue free of charge. After that we will start to charge
enough to cover costs. Beginning in 1991 membership in MKG, including a subscription
to "The Platform"
(four issues per year), will be $5.00 per year. Those who join during the
year will have their dues pro-rated. We will remind you about this in the next
issue.
LOST SHEEP
Does anyone out there know Roy Jackson? We
had his address as 415 West St. Marie Street, Duluth, MN., 55811 but his newsletter
came back marked "Forwarding time expired". Anyone out there
know Roy?
Thanks to Dan Bera we now have Jim Cummins address. Welcome back
Jim.
LAKE SUPERIOR
AGATE POINTS
The editor received a call in June from Shirly &
Jim Toney of Westville, Ind. The Toneys are avid Lake Superior agate collectors
and are also just getting into knapping. Shirly called because someone reported
seeing points made from Lake Superior agate and she wanted to know where she
could buy one. The editor has worked with sawn slabs of heat treated, banded
Brazilian agate with moderate success but has not worked on the Lake Superior
variety either in slabs or from
a percussed spall. Has anyone out there ever worked on Lake Superior Agate?
If you have, how about filling us in on the details (heat treated?, slabs?, spalls?
size? etc.). It would make good regional information for the newsletter and
we'll pass the information on to Shirly.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tony Romano
and I ran into the Toneys at the Moose Lake Agate Days festival the weekend after
the MKG Knap-in. By that time, I had found out that Tony had made some points
from Lake Superior Agate. In
answer to the Toneys' question, yes, you can make points from the Lake Superior
Agate but it's a hit or miss proposition. Frequently the stone will delaminate
at the banding. If it doesn't, you can run a flake across the bands and turn
out some very beautiful points.
NEW MEMBERS
In last months
issue we forgot to mention the call we got from Chuck Kramer, 280 County Hwy.
3, Carlton, MN 55718. Chuck had been given the name of the editor by a friend
who told him that a knapping
group was starting in Minnesota. The friend was from Missouri! Honestly folks,
it is amazing the number of interested people who are hearing about our organization.
Hi Chuck! With you living next to the home of one of the biggest Lake
Superior agate shows in the nation (Agate Days, Moose Lake, MN) can you shed
any light on the question about Lake Superior agates that appears in this issue?
By the way, did your friend from Missouri say how he had heard about MKG? My
guess would be that he heard
about it from the folks that publish "CHIPS". If any of you out there
are NOT getting the Flint Knappers' Guild International publication ("CHIPS")
you are missing a lot of information. This quarterly newsletter is
available for $9./ 4 issues by writing to CHIPS, p.o. Box 702, Branson, MO 65616.
EDITOR'S
NOTE: I received a call from St. Louis just shortly before
this edition went to print. The caller turned out to be Chuck's friend from Missouri,
Mike Blake. Some of you
will know Mike from his articles in "CHIPS". We spent a pleasant
few minutes on the phone talking about Mike's new native american art shop and
his fabulous collection of points from hundreds of modern knappers (I had heard
about this collection but have not had the opportunity to see it ... yet). We
also discussed the scarcity of good knapping stone in Northeastern Minnesota and
decided that jasper taconite was probably our most beautiful material ... when
it can be found. Mike says
that he will be coming to the Nii Mi Win Indian Pow Wow to be held in Duluth on
August 25 & 26. We have both put on knapping demonstrations there but never
when the other person was around. This year we hope to get together. If any
of you MKG knappers are going to be in the area, you may want to stop by and
visit.
Once again, Dan Bera has sent us a name of a prospective new member.
Roger Hiemgartner, R.R.1, Luverne, MN 56156 is a naturalist at Blue Mounds
State Park and is apparently
interested in primitive stone tools. Welcome Roger!
Last April, the editor
attended the Minnesota Bowhunters Inc. banquet in Minneapolis. He had collected
a fine bruin with his bow last season (no he didn't use a stone point -
they are considered illegal for hunting in Minnesota) and was receiving that organizations
Big Bear award. Many donated items were auctioned off at the banquet
including a stone knife that had been made by the editor. The knife attracted
the attention of the club president,
Lauren Hain, 106 4Th Avenue N.W., Byron, MN 55920 who is interested
in the flintknappers' art and has decided to join the guild. Welcome Lauren and
good luck on learning how to knap!
Clyde Ketelsen of White Bear Lake,
MN was at the Big Woods/Big Plains seminar in Stillwater and ran into Jim Regan
who was doing a knapping demonstration. Jim told him about the MKG and Clyde
has decided to join us. Welcome aboard!
George Larson of Minneapolis has
also expressed an interest in
joining the group and we welcome him as well.
We received a letter from
Dean Gushwa, 117 22ND AVE. N., FARGO,ND 58102. Because he was from North Dakota,
Dean thought he might not be able to become a member of MKG. Listen everyone,
what this organization is all about is sharing information, resources and
common interests. It is not some elitist, self serving forum for ego gratification.
Although our news is somewhat regional (the International Guild which publishes
CHIPS is much better suited
to the national scene), anyone is welcome to join the group. The only requirement
is a common interest in protecting, preserving and promoting the flintknappers
art. This fits the present and historical definition of a guild and
hence, the reason for our name. Anyone with seven years experience, such as Dean
has, is not only welcome but will be a valuable addition to the group. However,
he would be just as welcome if all he had to bring was his interest. By the
way Dean, how is your supply
of Knife River Flint???????
JUST JOKING!!!! Welcome aboard.
The site
manager for the Northwest Fur Post in Pine City (site of our 2nd Annual Knap-in
and proposed site for the 3rd - July 6 & 7, 1991) decided that he was interested
in flintknapping and has joined the guild. Welcome aboard Pat Schifferdecker
(heck, if he can write his name, he can learn basic knapping).
Darrel
Schmidt, 123 Alice A B157, Marble, MN. 55764, and Dirk Lefler, P.O. Box 39244,
Edina, MN 55439 have also
asked to join the Guild. Welcome! Where are all you guys and gals coming from!?!
LOGOS
In
the last issue you saw some of the logo designs
that were received by the editor. One of these will become the "official"
logo of the Minnesota Knappers Guild. We reprinted the ones from the last
issue along with all of the others that have come in. The creators names have
been withheld so that this does not turn into personality contest. It is time
to vote. Before Oct. 31, please
send the editor a note indicating the number of the logo you like best. The
winner will become part of the masthead for "the Platform". All members
of the Guild are eligible to vote. While you are spending a quarter to
send us a note, let us know what else you would like to see in the newsletter.
Better yet, SEND us an article...you must be getting tired of listening to the
Editor.
WHICH ONE DO YOU LIKE BEST?
PLEASE SEND THE EDITOR YOUR VOTE
BEFORE OCTOBER 31!
MINNESOTA KNAPPERS GUILD
2ND ANNUAL
KNAP-IN
Well its done. The 2nd annual knap-in is over and we have declared
it a success. There were knappers, archaeologists, a door prize, spectators
and collectors. There was rain, new types of stone, sunshine, heat treating,
fluting demonstrations and incredible artifacts. There was fun.
Friday
afternoon found the editor, Gene Altiere, with Tony Romano and Pat Schifferdecker.
We were laying out the camping
sites as the group started to show up. Frank Bera from Hollandale, MN and
his wife were the first to arrive. Frank is a rendezvous fanatic from way back
and showed up with his white canvas, baker style tent which blended right into
the Fur Post site. We set up immediately in front of the Post with plenty of
room for campers, atlatl throwers, cooking, and kids. The editor backed out
on the camping and accepted the wonderful Italian hospitality (read FOOD) of the
Romanos who are residents of
Pine City. The Allen brothers, Wayne and Larry, from Mankato, MN and Lauren Hain
of Byron, MN showed up Friday night to keep Frank company. Gerry Goth of Madison,
WI came in Friday also but opted for one of the local motels. The campsite
was very nice but the Minnesota mosquitos where out to try and impress the
visitors and camping took some intestinal fortitude as well as good netting! As
the flyer promised, if someone forgot to bring a rain tarp it would rain. They
did...it did. "Rained"
is not the proper term. Friday night there was a thunder storm of incredible
proportions. Thank the good Lord for high ground!
It takes more than
a little rain to dampen a knapper's spirit (and it also helps if it stops raining
before mid-morning) and Saturday turned out to be all that we hoped for
and more. Jim Regan of Bethel, MN showed up early and set up a neat little aluminum
and nylon pavilion. He was soon demonstrating his recently acquired, lever
activated fluting devise much
to the awe of the assembled knappers. Vern Lauer of Marshall, MN had shown up
by now and he and Gerry set up with Jim. Ron Chambers came in from LaPorte,
IN. Despite vehicle trouble on the way to Minnesota he soon cheerfully joined
in the festivities and was trying some knapping techniques on colored glass. Betty
Dahl a guild member from Duluth, MN came to watch the activity and another
member, George Larson, from Minneapolis was also there to observe. Say, by the
way, Betty and George, the editor
thanks you for your contribution to the "Platform" it is appreciated.
The
knap-in was very unique as it actually had three sponsors. The
Minnesota Knappers Guild used it as our annual assembly but we were the guests
of the Minnesota Historical Society who own and operate the North West Fur Post
site. The third sponsor was the Institute for Minnesota Archaeology which
operated an artifact identification field station at the knap-in. The station
was manned by George Christiansen
and Dan Pratt, both full time archaeology graduate students and part time knappers
who work with the IMA. Having an artifact I.D. program is a natural for
a knapin and helps promote good relations between two groups that can easily be
at odds with one another. We got to see some extraordinary artifacts. The most
impressive piece was an incredibly large, lancelot shaped, late paleo(?), ceremonial(?)
blade made of Hickson quartzite (silicified sandstone) that was approximately
4.5" x 10"
with a (W/T) of about 10:1! Needless to say we were all sufficiently humbled!!
The editor is going to contact Dan and ask him if he would provide us with
a more detailed article on that piece as well as the other artifacts that were
examined. It would be interesting to hear about any follow-up activity that took
place.
The editor spent most of Saturday frustrating himself. It was
all Wayne Allen's fault. Actually, Jon Nelson of Thunder Bay, Ontario was also
partially to blame. Wayne
brought in some oolitic chert from the LeSeuer River Valley and Jon brought in
some siltstone from the Knife Lake region (U.S./Canadian border). The editor cannot
pass up an opportunity to work on local materials. It would have been better
if he had just gone ahead and smashed his thumbs. It would have hurt a lot
less. Granted, you have to heat treat the chert to make it do anything (and
we were stupid enough to do that Saturday night at Tony's house so we could have
more heartache on Sunday!) but
a lot of time still went into making some spalls that would heat treat and be
worth working. Finally we just gave up on the chert and turned our attention
to the siltstone. It LOOKED good ..... but...you'd better be good with percussion
because pressure flaking merely results in enough step fractures to make it
look like a piece of slate! Finally, the editor got so frustrated he picked up
a piece of obsidian to work on for consolation. It didn't help because about
that time Vern Lauer decided to
show everyone an Errett Callahan, limited edition, obsidian knife that he had
acquired. So much for taking out frustrations with obsidian. It was about then
that the editor decided that he needed to walk around and see what was going
on.
A lot was going on. The Allens were keeping a large number of spectators
occupied with their atlatl demos and the archaeologists were still opening
shoe boxes, cardboard containers, paper bags and coffee cans full of wonderfully
varied artifacts. Pat, as
site manager for the Post, was dressed in his traditional voyageur regalia and
was conducting tours. But, one of the most intriguing activities going on was
Grant Goltz of Hackensack, MN making Blackduck pottery using traditional tools
and techniques. His workmanship is exquisite. Grant is also a Guild member
but was not able to spend any time knapping because he had so many people interested
in his clay pots.
Saturday night produced another fabulous rain
storm but once again the spirits
were undampened. Well, let me rephrase that. There were damp spirits, well
O.K., wet ... but they were on the inside and kept to absolutely moderate levels.
Hey, come on, it made the weather more tolerable. The Allens did get a fire
going long and hot enough to produce some "interesting" pyrotechnics
while heat treating Texas chert. The editor was still smarting from his bout
with the siltstone and talked Dr. Romano into showing off some of his artifacts
made from this same material.
Eureka! While some of them were very nice, most showed the same step fractures
that the editor had wrestled with that morning. Most of the time, artifacts
just give the editor an inferiority complex. This was one time were it was more
of a feeling of kindred empathy and the next day he produced an archaic piece
that was just as ugly as the ones seen the night before.
Sunday morning,
the rain clouds once again cleared away and we were back at it. More knapping,
more artifacts, more camaraderie.
Jim Regan donated a door prize of a fabulous box of Stage 2 & 3 bifaces
made from various stone materials totally foreign to Minnesota. Everyone
was drooling over this fantastic cache but of course there can be only one winner
and Tony Romano walked off with the prize. (George and Dan then tried to walk
off with the prize but Tony caught them!) Jon Nelson's interest in knapping
laid more in his academic mind than in his hands but we were not about to tolerate
words of wisdom without "hands
on" training. With a little instruction, he was able to turn out
a very acceptable turkey-tail and we suspect that another knapper may have been
born. Around three in the afternoon, some of us had to start drifting off.
Although it came to an end, the memories will stay and the expectations for next
year are running high. Thanks to all of you who made this dream come true.
If the editor failed to report on some of the activities that went on, please
forgive him and send in a report
on whatever he missed.
NEXT YEAR!
SAME LOCATION JULY 6 & 7, 1991
POINTS
TO REMEMBER
All of us have produced points that we
are proud of because of the skill involved in their making. All of us have points
that we enjoy because of their material or type. But it seems that the points
we cherish most have a deeper value than skill or style or material. For instance,
in my possession is the very first point I ever knapped. Under the step
by step tutorage of my mentor,
Dr. Tony Romano, a fairly graceful 1.5 inch, corner notch point was made from
mahogany obsidian. At the time, I knew nothing of W/T ratios and since that
point is now firmly embedded in a small moose burr belt buckle, that information
will never be known (it had to be a least 7/1 - smile). There is a small, side
notched bird point I made from some lavender colored chert that my hunting partner
picked up while we were on a bow hunt for antelope. Looking at that point,
I see a 13" pronghorn
passed up at 18 yards because there were larger bucks in the area. The bolo tie
clasp on my adult scout leaders uniform is a beautifully knapped, black obsidian,
side notch given to me by my mentor. This point is special because its maker
is special. All of us have these points. What prompted me to write this column
is that I just received another one. A note came with the package and I
read it first. The author said that he wanted to send me something special for
getting the MKG and "the
Platform" off the ground. It went on to say that it was the best point of
its type that the sender had ever made. I knew who sent it and I knew the quality
of his work. It may be a worn cliche but it was with trembling hands that
the wrapping on the point was undone. Inside the tissue was a work of art. A
Clovis, the likes of which even primitive man rarely saw. A graceful 3.5"
by 1.5". A W/T of 5/1 and made of that root beer rich, Knife River flint.
But the flute.....as wide
in proportion as the finest Folsom and as long! From the base the wide path ripples
through the stone and right off the tip. And not just on one side but on
both! Oh....it is so very special. That anyone would want to give me the best
of anything they had ever done was beyond my comprehension. If it had been made
in prehistoric times, the maker would have kept it for "medicine".
It is too special to use or chance loosing but I think I do understand that
it was special enough to give someone.
It really is a point to remember. Thanks, Jim.
Keep the chips
flying,
Gene Altiere, Editor
4329 Peabody Lane
Duluth, MN 55804