• Southeastern Native Americans used a range of tools, such as spears, knives, pottery and hoes.native american pow-wow image by Joy Fera from Fotolia.com
  
  Throughout their history, the Native American tribes of southeast America -- such as the Navajo, Creek, Pueblo, Seminoles, Apache and Chickasaw people -- have used a variety of tools for hunting, agriculture and art. Though few Native Americans use the old tools as they once did, many tribes still manufacture tools in the traditional methods devised thousands of years ago for the purpose of art, tourism and ceremony.
  
  

Hunting

• Native Americans used a variety of sharp and blunt weapons, plant fiber nets and traps in order to hunt buffalo, wild turkey, fish, rabbits and other animals. Blunt weapons such as clubs, snares and round stones called bolas were used when hunters wished to preserve the skins or hides of animals. Other weapons included a spear-throwing device called an atlatl, spears made of bone and stones, fish hooks and the more recent bow and arrow.
  
  

Agriculture

• Native Americans were able to use materials such as bone, wood, stones and plant fiber to make tools for agricultural processes. Some of the tools that were used included the hoe, made from either stone or bone and wood, and digging sticks called dibbles made of wood. Using these tools, Native Americans were able to cultivate plants such as cotton, tobacco, squash, corn and beans.
  
  

Art

• Art created by the Southeast tribes included blankets, rugs, baskets, jewelry and weapon adornments made of silver. In order to manufacture blankets, rugs and baskets, large upright looms were created out of wood. In traditional basket and rug weaving, mineral and plant colorings could be utilized to dye or decorate the baskets with yellow, black, red, white or indigo. Today, many weavers use commercial dyes and materials. Southeastern tribes also practiced silver smithing to make jewelry such as necklaces, flasks and bracelets.
  
  

Cooking

• Southeast tribes such as the Pueblo have been using pottery for containers, eating and cooking since approximately 100 A.D. Clay would be gathered from local areas and worked by hand into the shapes required for their everyday uses. Sometimes native Americans would use small stones to polish the outer surface of their pottery. This process was laborious and took a long time, but gave their work a fine finish. Today pottery is still made using traditional methods in the Southeast, but is sold more as art for tourists than for the culinary uses of local tribespeople.
  
  

Religion

• Medicine men in Native American tribes employed tools in their spiritual practices for the benefit of the tribe. Before the advent of the modern hospital and doctors, medicine men used items such as quartz crystals for diagnosing illness. In some Navajo ceremonies, the medicine man will create a traditional sand painting using mineral colors and sand, with the intent to summon ancestors for the healing of a person. Other ceremonial tools included rattles, dolls, drums and various botanical tools, such as smudge sticks made from sage leaves.