Native American Wood Bowls & Carving Tarahumara men love to work with wood and have learned to fashion amazingly detailed items with what might seem to be very crude working tools. Wooden spoons, bowls, and figurines are all items which are commonly carved. Their well known dough bowls, carved by hand from native yellow pine begin as a piece of a downed tree trunk. The trunk is split in half lengthwise then carved with an axe to form the shape of the bowl, and further worked with a machete or large knife. This traditional style dough bowl has been used throughout the Sierra Madre for generations. Corn and wheat are ground by hand by crushing the kernels between a smooth stone and a tapered stone trough called a metate. The dough bowl is places at the lower end of the trough to catch the corn or wheat flour as it is ground. Water is then added to the flour in the bowl and hand-made tortillas are not far behind. The beauty of these rustic dough bowls is enhanced by the natural irregularities of the wood. Their character is as rich as their heritage.
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