Throwing darts at a target, spear tossing, crafting tule duck decoys and prehistoric pizza are all part of an upcoming archeology event at Tamástslikt Cultural Institute. The event is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at 72789 Highway 331, located 10 minutes east of Pendleton off Exit 216 of Interstate 84.

During the event, experts also will demonstrate the atlatl, flintknapping and tule duck decoy-making. Visitors will have the opportunity to create and take home a tule duck decoy and win a prize for the spear tossing.

This event is free and open to the public; however, there is still a charge for admission to the permanent exhibits.

The atlatl was in use around the globe by ancient peoples before the invention of the bow and arrow. Early hunters used it to kill large game animals such as the mammoth, an extinct prehistoric elephant. Remains of mammoth have been found near Tamástslikt and can be viewed in the winter lodge exhibit. Archaeologists found remnants of the earliest atlatl in the Roaring Springs cave in southern Oregon.

The Tribes in this region used the tule (pronounced too-lee) reed for everything from housing to burial mats. A traditional tule mat lodge can be visited at Tamástslikt in its permanent exhibits.

Tom Bailor, of the CTUIR Department of Science and Technology, and Lloyd Barkley, of the CTUIR water department, will provide hands-on instruction to visitors on the use of ancient tools and crafts. They harvest the tule reeds used in making the ducks and provide the flint-knapping and atlatl materials.

Every year the governor of Oregon proclaims Archaeology Month for educational institutions such as the Tribes and Tamástslikt to highlight the study of human material culture – what ancient peoples developed as technologies for subsistence – stone tools, woven articles, regalia, etc. This is a central theme of Tamástslikt – preservation, conservation of ancient lifeways that did not harm the land and animal habitat and keeping humans in their proper place in nature.

Admission cost for the permanent exhibits are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors 55 and older and $17 for a family of four. Call 966-9748 or go to www.tamastslikt.org for more information.