Tools of the Ottawa (Odawa) People: Stone, Bone, Wood & Fire

Stone Tools

• Projectile points: Arrowheads (small, notched), spear points (larger) — chert, flint, quartzite
• Knives & scrapers: Hide processing, woodworking, butchery
• Drills/awls: Perforating hide, shell, wood
• Celts/axes: Ground stone, hafted for woodworking
• Hammerstones, anvils: Flaking, nut cracking, pemmican

Bone, Antler & Tooth Tools

• Fishhooks: Bone/antler, barbed; gorges (toggle)
• Harpoons: Toggle heads, line attachments (sturgeon, seal)
• Needles & awls: Sewing, basketry, quillwork
• Beamers: Long bones for hide scraping
• Gaming pieces: Dice, cup-and-pin

Wood & Bark Technology

• Bows: Self-bows (ash, hickory, osage); sinew-backed
• Arrows: Shafts (dogwood, viburnum), fletching, points
• Canoes: Birchbark (wiigwaas) — sewn with spruce root, sealed with pitch; also dugout
• Snowshoes: Ash frames, rawhide/babiche webbing
• Lacrosse sticks: Steam-bent hickory, netted
• Containers: Bark boxes (makakoon), maple sap buckets
• Utensils: Wooden spoons, bowls, mortars, paddles

Fire & Cordage

• Fire drill / bow drill: Cedar hearth, pine spindle, punk
• Sinew: Deer/tendon thread — sewing, bow backing, hafting
• Basswood / nettle / milkweed fiber: Cordage, nets, bags
• Rawhide / babiche: Snowshoe lacing, drum heads, repair

Cultural Context

Odawa (Ottawa) = "Traders." Anishinaabe (Ojibwe/Odawa/Potawatomi) Council of Three Fires. Great Lakes hub: Michilimackinac, L'Arbre Croche. Tools reflect seasonal round: sugar bush, ricing, trapping, trading.