Indian artifact show draws big crowd

The Hawkeye State Archaeological Society is giving people a look back at prehistoric America. The annual spring Indian artifact show brought together hundreds of Native American artifact collectors in Durant, Iowa. 

A handful of collectors set up to show off pieces from ages past. There were arrow heads and even some Native American toys and jewelry on display, and organizers say it was a great turnout. 

Robert Bloomfield has been digging up Native American artifacts for 77 years. He started collecting artifacts when he was 13. Mostly, he finds artifacts from Native American winter camp sites around Mercer County.

“Down in Viola Illinois I dug out 125 arrows and 5 axes,” Bloomfield said. 

Lane Freyermuth hosts the annual Indian artifact show. He says most of the findings there are from regular people just happening upon them in fields and creeks.

“You go out and just walk fields and you find campsites… When you talk about antiques or history, you can’t go any farther back than what these are made. There’s just nothing else out there quite like Indian artifacts. It shows how things have been going on for so many years in this country,” Freyermuth said. 

Most of the artifacts were found in the Midwest, but some of them come from as far away as North Dakota. 

Tom Browner is the president of the Hawkeye State Archaeological Society. He’s been collecting artifacts since he was 16. He says the artifacts he finds were used by Midwestern Native American tribes, but because of the active inter-tribe trading, he finds some things are really from hundreds of miles away. 

“I reach down and I pick up a piece from 5,000 B.C. That’s a thrill. It’s from their hand through all that time to my hand,” said Browner. 

Dozens of people came to find out more about artifacts they’d found. Some just wanted to learn more about prehistoric America.