Exhibit Label

S'abadeb-Seattle Art Museum The fine-grained wood of the western red cedar was worked with few tools, but those that were used were ever efficient, like this straight adze made of elk antler. The carver's toolbox would include several types of adzes, wedges, straight-and crooked-bladed knives, and, later, metal blades, chisels, and saws. Before Natives had access to metal via salvage from oceangoing vessels or trade, adze blades were made from finely sharpened stone, and knives from shell or beaver teeth. The straight adze was employed on the southern Northwest Coast and along the Columbia River. Often there is a human or animal on the butt: here, it might be a mountain goat or an elk.