History up close

File photo: Scott Mitchell, the museum director, describes some of the features of a Native American dugout canoe in the Dugout Canoes: Paddling through the Americas exhibit at the Silver River Museum in Silver Springs State Park on Monday, Oct. 12, 2020. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2020.

For a moment, imagine the Ocala area the way it was when the people who lived here had to carve canoes for transport, make their own bows and arrows, and “knap” flint in order to create stone tools such as spear points. It was far from an easy life, but our ancestors perservered and thrived.

On Feb. 18 and 19, during the 12th annual Silver River Knap-In Stone Tool Making and Prehistoric Arts Festival, you can see expert flint knappers demonstrate the skills that helped our forebears hunt, tan hides, make pottery and generally do everything they had to do to survive in the wilderness of early Florida. The event takes place at the Silver River Museum & Environmental Education Center, inside Silver Springs State Park.

Scott Mitchell, an archaeologist and director of the center, explained that the word knap means to break and originates from Old German knoppen or Middle English knappen.

“The act of knapping refers to the controlled breakage of stone such as flint (or chert in Florida) to create sharp tools. Spears and arrows, drills, knives, scrapers, axes, adzes and other implements were tipped with sharp bits of stone,” he said.

The knap-in will offer a glimpse into the past with archaeologists, potters, hide tanners, bow makers, dugout canoe carvers and other specialists in native skills, and modern-day twists such as food trucks.

The event will include displays of ancient Native American stone tools from Florida as well as an archery range and hands-on activities. Experts will give presentations on the prehistory of Florida and vendors will offer unique crafts, reproduction stone tools and flint knapping supplies.

Mitchell said knappers have told him that this event has become the largest of its kind in the Southeastern United States.

“We have knappers come from Texas, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and, of course, Florida, Georgia and Alabama,” he said.

“We will have Pedro Zepeda and Daniel Tommie, members of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, teaching about dugout canoes and Ryan Gill, who is pretty well known through his YouTube channel HuntPrimitive, who will be doing a spear throwing demonstration and a presentation about using Ice Age spears,” Mitchell said.

“On Saturday, Dr. Nancy White, a longtime archaeologist at the University of South Florida, will give a presentation about the prehistory of Northwest Florida and, on Sunday, we’ll have Nigel Rudolph, with the Florida Public Archaeology Network, talking about prehistoric Native American tools,” he continued.

The wood-fired pottery kiln will be fired on Sunday, “which only happens a few times a year,” Mitchell said. The blacksmith shop will also be running during the event, he added.

While visiting the grounds of the center, guests can walk through a Cracker Village replica of a 19th century pioneer settlement and visit the museum, which is showcasing the “Dugout Canoes: Paddling Through the Americas” exhibit. It includes Native American canoes from across North and South America, with several examples from Florida. Parts of the exhibit are interactive with hands-on activities for all ages.

The state park also offers hiking trails and opportunities for kayaking and canoeing on the Silver River.

Mitchell said the knap-in event is geared to not only sharing our rich history, but also as a way of getting people outdoors and into the park and museum. It is a fundraiser that helps support educational programs.

Mitchell said admission to the state park will be free for the weekend. To attend the festival, however, there is an admission fee of $8 per person; free for ages 5 and younger.

Festival hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. The entrance to the museum and center campus is at 1445 NE 58^th Ave., off Baseline Road.

“People should know that when our parking lot fills up, rangers will direct them to the main state park entrance on State Road 40, where they can take a tram or bus back to the festival site,” Mitchell noted. “It’s actually pretty cool to ride the tram through the state park.”

For more information, visit silverrivermuseum.com or call (352) 236-5401.