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  • My one metal point

    This is the only metal point I've ever found, near Kremmling. What did they trade it for?

  • #2
    they made that!
    Look to the ground for it holds the past!

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    • #3
      I agree with Chase here. That definitely looks like a native made point.
      And by the looks of what I can see I would say that it was made from kettle brass.
      Very cool fined my friend, well done.
      Bruce
      In life there are losers and finders. Which one are you?

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      • #4
        Nice Native-made point and I see it being made of iron.

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        • #5
          That is very cool, thank you, I did not know that.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by opalboy View Post
            This is the only metal point I've ever found, near Kremmling. What did they trade it for?

            From the very earliest contact periods, the most frequently desired commodity that Natives had to offer Europeans for trade was food. Particularly corn, beans, squash, pemmican and fresh game meat. In colonial and settler times, European trade goods might also be offered on a goodwill basis as an inducement for the presence of non-Natives to be tolerated or in actual payment for Native land (including on a personal basis, outside wider territory agreements, transactions and treaties). Trading for furs, pelts and hides was also common and ultimately blossomed into a large commercial scale industry. Although most people think of beavers in relation to the fur trade, in areas where beaver were not abundant there was trade in tanned buckskin and hard leather from bison, together with bison “wool” which was popular for winter coats. As silk top-hats became fashionable in Europe, demand for beaver pelts dropped (although the fur was still used for stoles, muffs and collars) and what was known as “coarse fur” took over as the predominant trade. Native-produced basketware was also popular with early colonists.

            The term “trade point” can be a bit of a misnomer, since many metal points were not actually manufactured for trade purposes and – even when they were – the trade was sometimes between Natives themselves rather than between Europeans and Natives. Strictly speaking a “trade point” was something specifically made for the purpose of trade between colonists and Natives but many metal points don’t fall into that category. In addition to purpose-made points produced by Europeans for trade (some of which carry a manufacturer’s name or mark) there was a lot of re-purposing and scavenging going on. Europeans were trading things such as metal cooking pots, kettles, skillets, cups and buckets with the Natives and also discarding broken items that were no longer fit for purpose. Many such items ended up being recycled into points by the Natives themselves. They quickly learned how to cut, hammer and hone unwanted metal items into points. Old pots, handles, gun parts and such – whether copper, brass or iron - were commonly recycled and iron hoops from old barrels were particularly popular for making points.

            Trade items carrying a higher value and which were in higher demand were those things that Natives could not easily make themselves or which were superior to their own equivalents. Things like steel hunting knives, axes, colourful glass beads, small “hawk bells”, woollen cloth (including blankets), rum (and later whiskey), coffee, sugar and – above all – guns, powder and shot (followed later by cartridges).
            I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.

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            • #7
              Very cool painshill, thank you!

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              • #8
                That's the first metal point that I've seen that someone actually found. Most I've seen were purchased. Really nice. ...Chuck
                Pickett/Fentress County, Tn - Any day on this side of the grass is a good day. -Chuck-

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                • #9
                  This is my only metal point Click image for larger version

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                  east Tx.

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                  • #10
                    A few I have found over the years.
                    Click image for larger version

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                    Look to the ground for it holds the past!

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