Iron Trade Digging Sticks

When we think of trade items exchanged with Native Americans, common examples like beads, mirrors, cloth, and knives often come to mind. However, one lesser-known but highly practical trade item in the Columbia Plateau region of Washington and Oregon was the iron digging stick.

Pictured here is a 12-inch forged iron root digging tool, traditionally used by Native American women to extract camas bulbs and other edible plant roots from the region’s rocky soil. Tools like this were essential for gathering food and reflect both cultural practices and adaptive use of traded materials.

This particular tool was discovered by Charles Mitchell in the 1950s or 1960s near Fountain Bar along the Columbia River in Klickitat County, Washington. Mitchell is profiled in Who's Who in Indian Relics #3, recognized for his contributions to the documentation and preservation of Indigenous artifacts.