Nets and Traps

• The desert environment is harsh on all creatures that live there. There is little water, the heat is extreme, and the nights can be very cold. Many animals that live in the desert are small and difficult to hunt. They can move quickly and are trapped rather than hunted. The Mojave people used nets and traps to capture small animals and birds like the quail. The traps were made from the fibers of the Joshua tree, a small desert tree found throughout Southeastern California and Arizona. The nets were woven from the fibers of the leaves of the tree.
  
  

Spears

• Mojave people used both spears and bow and arrows for both hunting and in battle. The wood for the handles of the spears and the bows came from trees native to the desert like the Joshua tree and the honey mesquite tree. The wood would be carved using stone cutting tools. The arrowheads and spearheads were made of sharp stones fashioned into points be carving. The arrowheads and spearheads were glued to the shafts using resin from pinyon pine.
  
  

Metate

• Since wild life was scarce in the desert, the Mojave people included plenty of vegetables and nuts in to their diet. Living close to the Colorado River gave them some wetlands to plant crops like beans. They would grind nuts and vegetables in a bowl known as a metate. The metate is similar to the mortar bowl found in Mexican cultures. The metate was a wide, thick, flat stone uses to hold beans or nuts. It included a smooth stone that fit in the hand to be used to crush and grind the nuts against the larger flat stone. The more a metate was used, the smoother it became and thus a better tool.
  
  

Housefhold Tools

• Cactus plants offered the Mojave people a resource for making tools for daily dining. Carving out the guts of a cactus plant left a large space for use in storing, cooking and serving food. Joshua, juniper, and desert pine trees provide soft wood and branches. Sandals could be made from the fibers of the Joshua tree. Juniper branches were easily made in to sticks for stirring food or liquids. Roots, pine needles and sticks were worked into various sizes of threads used to make baskets and plates.