The following thoughts on the workshop were prepared by Cathlapotle Plankhouse Volunteer Judy Bridges. We invite you to become a volunteer and create your own memories at future workshops!

It was a beautiful sunny February afternoon. We were deep into the closed portion of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge surrounded by marshy areas, streams, ponds, and such. The flocks of geese rose and landed, haughtily squawking at our disturbance and presence.

Sitting on a cement slab at the Refuge shop, Lyle, our primitive skills leader, demonstrated his wedge and stone maul skills, then let us go at it. I learned a lot watching him. I now have a good idea on the how-to's of making a wooden wedge, what wood to use, how to shape it, how to use sand and a rock to polish it, and how to fire harden it.

But my choice was to start a stone maul. Following Lyle's instructions, I looked at the rocks that he had brought. I looked for a small hard, bouncy, dense rock as my "striker". Then, I chose the smallest rock with the shape most resembling a maul.

I sat back down next to my husband and put the maul rock in my left hand and began striking it. I did my best to follow Lyle's directions. As I continued to work, my eyes widened! The rock was pink! I couldn't believe the beautiful hue being revealed. Soon a pink stripe was forged into the dark of the rock.

I want to tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed the process. Thoroughly! At the end of our three hours, I did NOT want to stop. The sun had not set. I had not finished my maul. But it was time to go!!

Traditional plankhouse's were constructed using hundreds of yards of cordage made from cedar withes. But cordage made from a wide variety of materials was an important part of almost every aspect of life along the Columbia River.

Our first hands-on community workshop was an introduction to the methods and materials used in cordage making.

Greg Robinson, a Chinook tribal council member and skilled cordage maker, led the workshop for 60+ registered participants.

He stressed the importance of respect for the resources, and explained how the Chinook tried to take only what was needed.

Participants practiced the S technique first using leather thongs, and then using cattail wings. They finished up by doubling their strands to form an extremely strong 4-ply cordage.

The next cordage making workshop, to be held sometime in the spring, will focus on harvesting and processing techniques.

Through these workshops we hope to build a corps of volunteers to make the cordage necessary for construction of the plankhouse.