Cherokee Traditions: Flintknapping
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- čas přidán 7. 10. 2021
- Flintknapping is an ancient method used to make various stone tools. Join Cherokee National Treasure Noel Grayson as he discusses the processes and history behind the art form in this new episode of Cherokee Traditions.
#Cherokee #Flintknapping #NativeAmerican #Knapping
"Even as a master flintnapper I don't consider my self a master because I still have alot to learn." True wisdom right there.
Some Native Americans make videos about dancing, some make videos about Flint knapping. All are welcome and valuable to those who want and need them. Bob's Flint knapping videos could be watched by dozens of students on and off the Rez, and they could get started making their own arrowheads and even killing their own food( rabbits and such) to please their mothers and sisters. And the culture need never fade. That will require someone to make a video depicting dressing a rabbit( which I think CZcams policies currently forbid.)
CZcams and all the other media outlets are doing a great job of destroying out first amendment rights. I'm about to be abolish all of them.
@@frankhausman1033 I wish they did. We may need it..
Nobody is a master, we all are students of where our hobbies take us. Don't use human labels to describe and category us, it brings ego into everything and ruins true spirit
Not only does he have mad skills....he has the soul of a teacher.
I came to the comments to say that.
Yes. I agree. In just watching him. I came to the same conclusion. Such a nice and warm gentleman with a craft and skill to give to others.
And he also has the soul of a student who are in turn some of the best teachers!
This man is the Bob Ross of knapping. The world needs more folks like yourself. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Good Man, No doubt. I could listen to him talk and explain for hours.
#bobstrong way of intercepting cabin
@@chrisw422 I have been searching all of Noel’s videos on youtube just to see what I can learn from him. :):)
I had the same thought. The cadence of his speech, and the patience of his teaching really reminds me of Bob Ross, but I enjoy this fellows subjects a lot more.
I was about to leave that comment when I looked down and saw that you had already left it. The exact first sentence is the phrase I had in my mind that I was going to write.
The most important part of this is he doesn't let the old ways fade away and he's willing to teach them to others. Very valuable. Good for him.
It seems to me that unless you're contemplating a complete social melt-down, it can hardly be "valuable" to anyone to propagate skills from the Stone Age...
Shane the native American people no matter what clan they belong to should be respected for how they lived from the land and only took what was needed for living. They were very well adapted for their surroundings..
@@shadowwolf9329 my great grandfather was a fullblood plains indian. He taught me how to be a ghost in the bush and also flintnapping. I'm also very in sync with the moon.
@@tiktokcancerous9974 I never had the pleasure of knowing my great grandfather nor great great grandmother on my mother's side. Which left me of learning the traditional art of bow making or flint knocking ☹
@@shadowwolf9329 I know I'm a very blessed soul for the skills passed down. I have all his old tools, spears, hand built longbows, and moose, elk hide blankets
This man is a National Treasure. I have so much respect for the Cherokee people. Thanks for this video and awesome channel content ! 🇺🇲👍
I agree 100%
I love the Cherokee notion that information is given in order to be shared and, if you have knowledge that someone else needs, you should be willing to share. I’ve learned that the more I know, the more I know that I don’t know squat. We should never stop learning!
That's why I learn. I learn with the goal of teaching someone what I know one day.
You are very intelligent sir
I too am a Cherokee fint knapper and I can already tell you Noel Grayson is awesome just by looking at the piece he is holding . : )
I knew he was wise by the way he held the stone, halito!
so cool your father was wise and planted that seed in your hand. still growing and living..Respect..
I started knapping about 6 years ago I got started because while I was fishing at a lake an older gentleman was there with his family and he was going knapping. I knew one of the girls in the group who had married this gentlmans grandson. Turned out this guy lived about 1.5 hours from where I lived, but he invited me to come by and he would show me what he knew. Later I called him and we set up a time and when I got there he gave me a pressure flanker and larger pad and a hand pad which I still use the pads to this day. This gentleman mostly worked with slabs and pressure flaking, but it made a point and worked for him. He started me down a path of learning that has slowly evolved and I love learning new things, thanks for sharing your knowledge.
This is what we need in our schools today every race a culcher needs the older craft man to teach a chraft to the hids how to service with out moredern day tools
This is such a great story.....I have such a deep respect for the old way....the new way seems feeble and shaky.... unpredictable like the stock market....if something happens how are we going to feed ourselves???
People in the city can laugh all the want about growing your own food or being able to create your own embers for fire but if things got really bad ( in my opinion, IT WILL HAPPEN, just ask the people in hurricane Katrina, ask the people in Texas when the power went out) these skills will save people's lives!!!
Thanks to all the people who share these beautiful treasures with us!
Arguably one of the most enduring technological advancement in the history of man. To be able to find something made thousands of years ago in almost the exact condition as when it was made is amazing. It is conceivable that the some of the arrow heads that your father found were lost and found several times throughout their life by different people spanning hundreds of years between each lost and found episode.Thank you for sharing some of the knowledge of your culture with us. It is a blessing to be able to share and learn from others.
Love this guy, thank you Noel💖 Im very PROUD TO BE NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN✊
It might be an ancient old technology but still a reliable and very useful knowledge to have and definitely should be passed on thank you for sharing
When I was about 6 or 7 years old my friends and I discovered that we could make sharp objects by smashing certain rocks together, originally I think we were trying to make sparks but accidentally made some crude stone tools as well. We weren’t allowed to own knives at that age so we felt pretty good about being able to make our own from nature!
I absolutely love this channel. I'm into flint knapping although I'm a total newbie because I'm into prehistory over here in England. What a lovely tutorial. I'd sit and listen to this guy all day. Seems like an absolute awesome man. ❤️
May GOD BLESS YOU for keeping old traditions alive and passing them on!!!
Thank you Noel! I appreciate your time and sharing with us!
Teaching my boys about their heritage (even though we only have a little Cherokee blood left in the family tree at this point) and they loved this! Thank you for keeping the traditions alive.
Been knapping for 20 years, its part of everyones history, not just native american, but globally we humans all used flint knapping. A common shared piece of technology across mankind. Awesome. You explain the art quite well, alot of newbies to knapping would benefit from this video. Great work!
so true , it is one of man's oldest known art forms and most would argue the first lasting form of art at least.
I'm of Danish decent. I have several.flint knives that were given to me by my grandfather. They were made in Denmark hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago
@@kurtsloop2462 I would imagine thousands if they are actual old tools used by people. To me it feels denmark was well beyond stone age hundreds of years ago. About 1000 years ago people from british isles payed danes taxes not to raid, and pillage there all the time. I doubt vikings showed up to anglo-saxons with stone implements
Yep, the indigenous americans were simply the last around here still doing it. They were stuck in the Stone age when the much of rest of the world was in the 19th century... Having mastered the bronze age and the iron age thousands of years earlier.
Not really something to be that proud of when you think about.......
Yes correct, but they were slightly different in its art form .
I have to say your's is the first vid I've come across of a Native American chipper. Thanks.
He is correct to collect small chips with a ground cloth !! Tiny chips are razor sharp !! Will cut the hell out of bare feet !! Like broken glass !! Love this fellow dearly , & his people !!
I have been flints napping for a few years
I am now able to produce usable knives projectile points and other stone tools
it does take complete concentration.
Thank you for sharing knowledge, I too am learning every day
My grandmother was Cherokee, and I miss her stories sooooo much. She would rock back-n-forth in her rocking chair while combing her long black hair talking about how she grew up living under wagons, and soooo much more.
My Grandmother was 1/4 cherokee her mother was 1/2 Cherokee & Last name was Morris .
What a beautiful soul. Thank you for taking the time to demonstrate a lost art. My father use to knap all the time and made beautiful gifts. I wished he were here today to help me make my son a knife. Never say you are going to talk to your elder tomorrow...do it today.
Thank you again.
"An old ancient technology " and he's passing it on and keeping it alive! Bravo!! Too much ancient knowledge has gone to the wayside.
I've been knapping for 30 years. Mr Grayson did an outstanding job of presenting and demonstrating the craft.
This guy is the right person to learn American heritage from , I could watch him for hours without losing interest . Thank you for sharing your history and heritage
Thank you brother. Always wanted an outlet to learn the old ways and keep the knowledge going without going there in person. Keep it up
I remember visiting the cherokee heritage center in Tahlequah 35 years ago when I was a little boy and seeing someone flintknapping (it may have been Mr. Grayson). I told myself on that day that I'm going to do that one day. I'm finally starting to flintknap with traditional tools and really am enjoying it. I'm glad to carry on our traditions and it really gives me valuable insight into how our people lived their lives hundreds and thousands upon thousands of years ago.
Thanks you sir for all that you do. You really are someone to be treasured.
Mr. Grayson, thank you so much for passing on the old ways. It's such a gift to learn native history, it's priceless.
This video made me smile. It reminds me of my granddad teaching me of these ways . Here I am watching these old videos to remind me of simpler times so that I can teach them to my daughters .
Being a skilled and articulate craftsman makes makes one a great teacher. You do our people proud Sir. What we pass on gets passed on.
My father told me of this when I was a young boy and I was full of questions he answered as best as he could so it made sense.
Fifty plus years later, i've tried it myself and must admit you are more than right, you make complete sense and use simple logic, your explanation of what you intend doing and how you will do it followed by showing the flake and then moving on to the next process it's not only understandable and logical but it's done with passion and not over stressed or rushed.
You have a natural ability for teaching this skill and remain humble about your ability for working the stone.
You have my respect for your skills and teaching skill and I wish you many more years of teaching this art.
A huge kudos and a big thank you for this video, you lifted my mood and captivated me all the way through.
Last summer I had a 12 foot deep pond excavated in my yard, mostly for bass & bluegill. This summer I was raking the area to smooth out the bottom before filling it, when I found a stone arrowhead, about 2 inches long. As a deer hunter myself I love thinking about the hunter that was once here as well, trying to get food for his family. In this area of Southern Wisconsin I believe it was the either the Potawatomi, Chippewa or the Ottawa people.
It may be older than that. There’s a field guide to flint arrow heads if you’d like to narrow it down between paleo Indian and more recent types. Enjoy the discovery of prehistoric American
Our neighbors farm sit on the higher ground of the adjacent bottom land near the Green River in south cenral Kentucky. Various people waiting for Spring plowing to come walk the fields looking for arrowheads in the '60's; they found hundreds of them. It was supposed that the native Indians tread the higher ground just as we did, shooting game driven up by the 'back water'. My Dad found a tremendous spear head, which I stupidly took to show and tell at school, and a bully broke it out of spite!
That point is most likely WAY older than the tribes you mention. Tribe names are a relatively new concept when compared to Native American history as a whole, which dates back to the end of the last ice age, or 12-14 thousand years ago, maybe older.
@@jbilly24 Good God, I was afraid of that! Dad sent two primative axe heads of to a university professor when I was very young. They looked like stone axe/club heads from the '50's cave man movies. Dang the luck!
@@jbilly24 Yes, I was told 500 BC.
...."I don't consider myself a Master, because I still have alot to learn." Spoken like a true Master. I have such respect and admiration for your people. Thank You for sharing and for teaching.
Very well taught. I write occasionally about neolithic Ireland, where tools were often made in much the same way. I appreciate having someone who cares about their own history demonstrate the skill so proficiently. Thank you, sir.
Thank you for the lesson. I will pass this down to my own children when I become a parent.
He is wonderfully skilled. I am SO happy that he has 523 positive thumbs up and zero (0) negatives. He is the ONLY person with this high of a rating, and I hope it stays that way!!
Wow brother I just looked and it's up to 3.1k likes without a single dislike! I'm with ya you don't see that anywhere👍
@@BM205 CZcams has discontinued displaying dislikes
@@stevehilliard1495 well that certainly sounds like something they'd do. Thanks for the knowledge
You are incredible. Thank you for sharing all the skills and the wisdom. Wado! 💗
I too am Native American. My father was Lakota.and Cherokee. My mother Irish.
Just found this And love your.channel. New subscriber
Here. Keep them coming.
The pride in this man is measured in miles.
Would love to spend time with him and learn some of his fine skills.
The wisdom of experience is priceless!! Good teacher!!!!!
I'm mixed blood. Cherokee Irish. This is my heritage. Everything comes to a ending, but rare examples should never be forgotten. Life skills..
This man explains his self very well and I would be willing to bet that he doesn’t know how good of a teacher he really is.
Awesome video, very informative, long live the Cherokee nation !
Using a deer antler to sharpen a stone tool is amazing! Nature really does provide everything; and those with the biggest brains survived by overcoming her obstacles and utilizing her toolkit. Wado!
Thank you for keeping the ancient art alive
"You don't have to solve all your problems, just sit and think about them for a while."
Best advice I've ever heard!
Wonderful video! Thanks so much for sharing. Seeing a stone point has always fired my imagination with wonder. You are certainly a National Treasure.
As an archer, this man is more than I could ever hope to be, thank you for your knowledge
This is by far the best flintknapping video I’ve seen yet. Tying the history and culture into the pragmatic details.
It's almost sad to think this knowledge will probably never be put to physical use.
An absolute treasure of a skill for sure in the Paleolithic
its physical use is up to those who know it to keep it alive . i myself have hunted with the tools (bow and arrows) i fashion, they still work good to be such an old "technology" its not just ''mine or ours'' this knowledge belongs to everybody! so its up to those of us who learn it and pass it on to the next generation. everyone's ancestors all across the earth did these things.
Over the years I have found a lot of tools and arrowheads around lakes here in Louisiana and have wondered how they were made. Thanks to you I understand the craft. I truly admire the craftsmanship of these long gone masters.
Thanks so much for keeping these skills and histories alive. My family and their friends are grateful to you by blood and by relationships.
Keep your heritage alive Noel because it will leave one hell of a legacy
Boy this brings back memories. I used to work as a cultural resources technician for the US Forest Service archaeology department. One day, my supervisor sat me down outside with a large piece of hide much like what was shown in the video. Then she proceeds to teach me how to flintknap an obsidian core. What an art that is! My coworker was a native American from the Siletz Confederated Tribe, which we relied upon at every archaeological research site. I remember digging a half-meter test pit. It was a long, boring 10 hour day as a teenager, except when I ended up digging so deep that I was laying on the ground with my arm down several feet. I ended up finding this absolutely beautiful teardrop-shaped point with a transparent smoky blue color. We were all struck by its beauty and wondered about the person who crafted that hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. Great video, thanks for sharing.
I would walk many miles just to meet this genuine man. Many miles indeed. I love this guy and his logical & sensible attitude towards life and life's adversity.
Thanks, I deeply respect and admire the Cherokee people. Thanks for illustrating a sample of the flint knapping craft.
This is just so awesome. When i find an artifact and hold it in my hand knowing it was held by a native just amazes me and i feel there spirit in me and connected. So amazing to me. Great job and thank you for passing culture on.
I love your knowledge thankyou I could listen to you talk for ever
Thank you for sharing, for me it was a real pleasure being able to spend 12 minutes with you.
I really love this! My family has strong ties of Cherokke on both sides sides my great-grandmother being fully Cherokke and having a 4th great-grandfather being a Cheif of a small town. Since I don't have a lot of family left to learn about my family's culture I like to watch videos like these to learn. This is very interesting and thank you for this! ❤
I have great respect for this gentleman. He is doing what he can to preserve the all but lost art of this continent's natives. In showing those around him how to do this he echoes his parents knowledge.
I wish CZcams would have been around 40 years ago, would have saved me tons of good rock. Excellent work Sir.
We ALL have a lot to learn brother. Thank you for sharing your knowledge! I am glad I stumbled onto this page!
As an indigenous tribal member I can hear life wisdom in his teachings about flint knipping. May beautiful flowers grow in all your life's path grandpa Grayson.
Living history, right there. I truly hope traditional techniques such as this continue to be passed down to those that come after.
My Grandma was a quarter Cherokee. I not much but I have some in me and proud of it. On my Dad side of the family. My 10th Great Grandfather was William W. Bradford the first elected Governor of Plymouth Rock. He came over on the Mayflower. So we are early Americans. I grew up in Knoxville Tennessee. And I love being in the Smoky Mountains. Photography is my passion. And I can’t get enough of History. Roaring Forks is a place I record a lot. That carpet of green moss looks like an Emerald Forrest. There’s plenty of Black Bears certain times of year. How those big bears can walk those limbs amazes me. And fast they can come down amazed even more LOL. You make great videos and your a good teacher and relaxing to listen to. Thanks for your hard work.
Thank You !!! Im a little Indian and arrow heads and knives like that ALWAYS caught my desire to learn and now I got an idea so thank you
It's long been a theory among my mom's side of the family that my great grandfather married a Cherokee woman. Could never prove it beyond that, but I have always had great respect for the Cherokee people and traditions. Pretty much the cornerstone of my respect for all the native and first nations peoples.
Always wanted to learn a bit about the old ways. Thanks for the lesson! 😁
Thank you for sharing,It is so important to keep that knowledge alive.✌️❤️
i gotta say that simply clicking a thumbs up, doesn't express my appreciation of your video. THANK YOU.
Howdy Noel, I catch that show "A Craftsman's Legacy" every chance I get and your episode is my absolute favorite. You have great teaching skills my friend. Thank you.
I absolutely love this! Thank you so much for sharing. Noel Grayson certainly is a treasure! I'm looking forward to more videos like this. Cheers!
Your skills are phenomenal and inspirational unalii.
True art based on ancient knowledge and necessity.
Blessings to you Brother.
Holy cow my new favorite channel. Wisdom and humility and sharing. All non virtual. Real life is incredible.
Such a great guy! Good peoples! Thank you for the wonderful lesson!
What an awesome video! You sir are a craftsman. I started knapping about 2 years ago and have been a little discouraged lately with slow progression. You may have just given me information to turn the corner on taking blades off of a larger piece. Thank you sir.
Thanks for keeping this beautiful art going! It’s a craft we treasure as a people and should never lose! 🙏❤️
I half cherokee and love to learn about my ancestors. I live in NY long island and wish i lived where u are 👍🇺🇸 thanks for the knowledge and look forward to future vids.ps i just subscribed 👍
Mr Noel Grayson ✊🏾 thank you for sharing your knowledge with us, as a native from BC Canada and knowing about the tools we’ve used I’d definitely love to learn this art of our ancestors, I’m an avid outdoorsman with traditional knowledge on hunting trapping and the lands, one thing I’m missing is making my own tools ✊🏾
I am originally from France and my ancestors also used rocks tools . Realy like your presentation on flint napping . Thank you for this wonderful video , it's like traveling through time .
wow - this man's soul is pure teacher. Thank you Mr. Grayson.
I gained not only knowledge in flint napping, but also wisdom in life. Thank you for this video.
I'm so glad that this knowledge is being preserved. I hope that this knowledge, passed down from countless eons, will persist long after we are all passed away. Knowledge like this not only binds us to our past, it binds us to one another. God bless you, Mr. Grayson.
Totally agree with you. And people as a whole need a bit less division amongst each other.
💯 Fascinating! When a traditional craft has a science behind the art, an art behind the science and is a metaphor for life, all at the same time 😯😀
Very interesting. So much more to making stone tools than I thought. I live in northern Ohio and have found many Native American stone tools and always thought of the men who made them and how were they made.
I like that he brings up copper. A lot of us ABO knappers shun any modern tools but what many don't realize is that copper was being mined and made into tools several thousand years ago here in North America.
Awesome. I am trying this. Blunt or sharp. Tools have purpouse. Each time I watch videos here, I learn something new to teach my kids and grandkids. Their heritage.
Thank you for sharing this skill. My great-great grandmother, Caroline Rainwater-Lebow was full Cherokee. It’s an honor to have her in my heritage. I have always felt a deep respect for Native People and their knowledge and wisdom. Let’s not lose these skills.
Neol truely is a national treasure, both in the art of crafting, and how to share that art and life experience in the most marm freindly and personal way. Love this man
Beautiful! Passing on the traditions of our Ancestors is wonderful and essential!
Love it. As a child I hunted arrowheads in Sandy Mush and other areas. Found some good ones near my home town of Candler. I always felt a connection with the ancient hunter that used it.
I love learning the old ways.
I’m so glad that this knowledge is being preserved and passed down.
Love seeing contemporary Native flintknappers!
My deepest respect to this gentleman I wish I would be allowed to learn from elders like this. Greetings from Germany
My friend I loved your video and I love what your doing and the attitude you possess. I've been knapping for over 25 years and I learn something every time I work a stone. I love to pass the things I do know to others as well and I applaud you for doing the same. Be well brother!
Thank you, Mr. Noel Grayson, for sharing your knowledge! I am a beginner. You really know what you are doing. I love the ringing sound when the stone is struck.
Noel is the guy I learned from (watching his videos)
I loved this!! My house was built in 1630, Massachusetts. We had arrowheads buried everywhere on this property as a kid. Thank you for maintaining this amazing traditional craft.
Very interesting! Thank you from out West in Oregon!
This is absolutely amazing. I would do about anything to spend some time learning from this man. He has inspired me to look into flint knapping more and maybe even make my own stone tool! I could have watched a 3 hour version of this video and would love it! Get a full length start to finish video for us! I'm really excited I found these videos today, I am subbed for all future videos as well!
For anyone who may be interested, I HAVE looked more into flint knapping and have made several decent looking and highly usable stone tools since I posted this comment! It is a very relaxing and entertaining hobby I plan to pursue even more in the future. This is an almost lost art and it feels really special knowing I am working toward being proficient at this skill. I have even started teaching what I've learned to my daughter. If you liked this vid, I highly recommend trying your own hand at making a stone tool! Its very satisfying to say the least!