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Kids learn artifact etiquette Lake Creek students get a lesson in archaeology Photo by Bob Pennell Lake Creek first-grader Vivian Gomez and 4-year-old Aubrey Simcoe check out a grinding bowl artifact during an archaeological demonstration at Pioneer Hall in Lake Creek Friday. The students were learning the importance of leaving artifacts they find -- like arrowheads -- where they found them . By VICKI GUARINO LAKE CREEK -- Archaeology became a local matter Friday as students in this ranch community learned something of the history in their own back yards. Lake Creek Learning Center's 20 or so grade schoolers sat down with Bureau of Land Management archaeologist Chris Kelly to consider what life was like in northeastern Jackson County hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago. From a modest collection of stone tools, Kelly described hunting, fishing and trading practices that sustained the region' Takelma Indians. And he made pleas for the conservation of potential archeological sites to a young crowd that commonly comes across artifacts. "One of the problems with sites around here are people who keep digging them up," Kelly told students. "It's kind of like taking books from your library and not bringing them back. Pretty soon all your stories will be gone." The stories told by Kelly's stones revealed fishing techniques, diet, even vices. "Bet you didn't know the Takelma smoked tobacco," Kelly said, pointing out a stone pipe bowl. No one had seen such a pipe before, but other artifacts weren't so exotic. From a display of arrowheads, fourth-grader Zachary Harold picked out a familiar, finely crafted point. "I found one that's like that, just like that one," Zachary said. He wanted to know how old it was -- a question Kelly answered by cautioning youngsters away from such artifacts. Digging is illegal, Kelly said, "even if it is on your own property." But for Zachary and other students around Lake Creek, digging isn't necessary anyway. Arrowheads and stone implements turn up in tiny creeks, along the banks of the nearby South Fork Little Butte Creek, and in freshly plowed farm fields. "I was digging in my garden once and I found a piece of obsidian," first-grader Justice Jamesen told the group. Such a find, said Kelly, shows trading routes among Indian communities. To get to Justice's garden, the glassy black rock -- valuable for arrows and blades -- had to have been carried here. The source was Glass Mountain in Eastern Oregon -- a place "as big as Lake Creek," Kelly said. Kelly said the artifacts show Lake Creek was a popular place for its easy fishing and prevalent game. The region's smaller creeks were easy fishing grounds for the Takelma. And kids knew all about the game. Teacher Georgina Kennedy reminded them about all of the elk on the school yard a while back. ddTakelma living accommodations are still visible, too. As Kelly showed the class pictures of caves that Indians used as seasonal quarters, Kennedy noted local sites. "There are a lot of these caves up South Fork," she said. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA