Show off your throwing skills on World Atlatl Day

Published 10:29 am Tuesday, May 24, 2016

MOUNT GILEAD – To celebrate World Atlatl Day, test your survival skills at Town Creek Indian Mound’s second Archaeolympic Games Saturday, June 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Contenders can try their hands at fire-making by bow-drill, demonstrate accuracy in throwing Atlatl spears, play a game of Chunky or cornhole and compete in timed cordage weaving.

An atlatl (pronounced at-latal or atal-atal) precedes the bow and arrow and is one of the oldest hunting tools known to man.

“Participants can play just to have some fun,” says Site Manager Rich Thompson, “or compete to win a prize.”

World Atlatl Day (WAD) was initiated by Linda Brundage and the New York Atlatl Association in 2011. Due to its popularity, the World Atlatl Association (WAA) membership voted to officially recognize the first Saturday in June of each year as World Atlatl Day.

It’s free to play, $5 to compete. Prizes will be awarded for highest overall male and female competitors in three age categories. Please contact the site at (910) 439-6802 or at towncreek@ncdcr.gov for more information.

For more than 1,000 years, American Indians farmed lands later known as North Carolina. Around A.D. 1000, a new cultural tradition arrived in the Pee Dee River Valley. Throughout Georgia, South Carolina, eastern Tennessee and western and southern Piedmont North Carolina, inhabitants built earthen mounds for their leaders, engaged in widespread trade, supported craftspeople and celebrated a new religion.

The mission of Town Creek is to interpret the history of the American Indians who once lived here. The visitor center features interpretive exhibits and audiovisual displays. A national historic landmark, Town Creek Indian Mound State Historic Site is North Carolina’s only state historic site dedicated to American Indian heritage.