Coyote Hills Knap-In
A Report by Richard Urata
The Third Annual Coyote Hills Knap-In was held in Fremont, California, about 30 miles south of San Francisco. It is usually held on the first weekend in October when the temperature is a mild 68 to 75 degree F. However, we had a heat-wave with the temperature in the 88 to 94 degree range.
Coyote Hills Knap-in is the only knap-in in the Central and Northern California area. This knap-in is organized by Norm Kidder, Dick Baugh and Ken Peek.
The Knap-In is held in concurrent with The Gathering of Ohlonean People. The Ohlone ceremony is a celebration of history and culture, which included such events as singing, dancing, story telling, traditional arts and skills demonstrations. The ceremony was on Sunday only. The knapping demonstrations are also part of the event. This year there were approximately 300 to 500 spectators with approximately 200 people visiting and interacting with the knappers. This kept the knappers busy demonstrating, answering questions, and helping 5 to 12 year-olds produce make-shift9 arrowheads from thin flakes all day Sunday. Extra care was taken to assure safety to the children.
On Saturday, however, about 15 knappers had the knap-in to themselves and we all enjoyed producing some points and, of course, telling exaggerated stories of quarry finds, quarry locations, material gathering, etc.
Bruce Goulette brought a clear-green obsidian from the Burns, Oregon area. None of us have seen this new variety. I brought some dark, almost black dacite from the Riley, Oregon area, and some double flow, mahogany/clear obsidian with rainbow sheen in the clear area from Lassen Creek, California. Ken Peek brought some heat treated Nevada agate from the Black Rock Desert, and some green, opaque obsidian from Hines, Oregon that looks like plastic. Bill Wells brought some petrified wood from the Bay Area. A great material source an hour from the knap-in area and nobody knows that it exists, at least, until now. We all stood in line to get the information and map from Bill. I managed to finagle a 4-pound piece of wood from Bill and am anxious to slice it up and try pressure flaking it.
Charles Kirtzon of Petro Glyphics donated rock pebble necklaces to all the knappers to commemorate this knap-in. Charles designed, sand blasted, then inked a sitting-howling coyote on one side, and the words Coyote Hills Knap-In on the other side. A plug: Maybe you knap-in organizers would like to commission him to produce some necklaces for your knap-in. Charles owns a company that reproduces authentic petroglyphics on pebble necklaces. The petroglyphics are sand blasted to produce the indentation of the figure -- just like the real petroglyphics.
Many points were produced from the different types of obsidian, agate, and petrified wood that knappers brought to the gathering. Several obsidian points in the 5 to 7 inch ranges were percussion-produced by Bruce Goulette and yours truly.
Unfortunately, we do not have any percussion type expert knappers in the area (or they are hiding from us). We are all beginners with anywhere from 1 to 4 years experience.
However, we do have several experienced pressure flaking type knappers who brought their beautiful points and knives for display and sale. Bill Wells, and his son Mike, produce beautiful and intricate points and knives.
Even with the hectic Sunday and the high temperature, knappers were pleased with the knap-in and are waiting for more knap-in's in this area.
We had a Labor Day Weekend, one-day knap-in, the San Jose Knap-In in my back yard with a turn out of about 14 knappers. I plan to have another one in a few months to keep knapping active in this area.
By Richard Urata
[email protected]
October, 1996
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