Hells Canyon Gives Up Secret - Textiles Discovered in 2008 Recently Dated < Announcement details on eCultural Resources >

Hells Canyon Gives Up Secret - Textiles Discovered in 2008 Recently Dated

Dr. Ken Reid, Idaho's State Archaeologist will speak about the Hells Canyon textile discovery Thursday, Nov. 17th at the Chapter of the IAS (Idaho Archaeology Society, Intermountain chapter)

11-16-11 - Press Release

Id, United States, North America

We know that people have lived in Idaho for at least 130 centuries," said State Archaeologist Dr. Ken Reid. The Nez Percé tribe was the earliest known settlers of this famous canyon, leaving pictographs and petroglyphs along rocks and cliffs, forming a natural historical museum of its own. “"There's an intact outdoor museum really of Idaho's past that survives," said Dr. Reid. Idaho’s Hells Canyon is the deepest river gorge in North America at approximately 8,000 feet, part of the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.It encompasses an area of 215,000 acres and over 900 miles of hiking trails.

Completely inaccessible by road, one of its isolated remote regions has turned up a cache of Nez Percé textiles that are made of cedar bark---found by a resting hiker. At first thought to be a native basket, it turned out to be folded textile mat containing a mass of partially worked bark. The warp and woof of the mat has been identified as Great Basin wild rye and western red cedar. The native grass grows locally in Hells Canyon; however the red cedar source close to the site is the Clearwater basin to the Northeast.

Originally discovered in March of 2008, Idaho State Archaeologist Dr. Ken Reid and his team of researchers have been excavating the site…only recently able to date the artifacts to 600-years ago. It is believed that the cache was to weave into a basket or mat, with a Nez Percé woman storing the bundle under the Hells Canyon stones for safekeeping until her return. "The basket was left there sometime between A.D. 1395 and 1435. We know that people have lived in Idaho for at least 130 centuries," said State Archaeologist Dr. Ken Reid. The Nez Percé tribe was the earliest known settlers of this famous canyon, leaving pictographs and petroglyphs along rocks and cliffs, forming a natural historical museum of its own. “"There's an intact outdoor museum really of Idaho's past that survives," said Dr. Reid.

A legend of the Nez Percé tribe says that a mythical coyote figure had dug Hells Canyon with a big stick, in order to protect their tribe’s ancestors in the Blue Mountains of Oregon to the Seven Devils gorge in Idaho. The Snake River is a fine blend of richness in Native American myth and geologic wonder, with some of the most spectacular and rugged land on earth. (Row Adventures)

The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest extends from the Blue Mountains and Wallowa Mountains downward to the spectacular Snake River on the Idaho border, covering approximately 2.3 million acres. (USDA) The area provides Grand Canyon-style rapids, an extensive trail system, pioneer homesteads, Native America pictograph sites, 70-degree water temperature and incredible scenery.
ISHS, IAS