May 30, 1999

A new sport seems to be catching on: Atlatl throwing.

Actually the Atlatl is 20,000 years old, or thereabouts. And back when it was really popular, it wasn't sport. It was pure survival.

Environment Specialist John Hollenhorst took a whack at the Atlatl, and filed this report.

You're first question has to be, "What's an Atlatl?"

And at Fremont Indian State Park, they have the answer.

They even have a statue, with a price tag attached. If you lived thousands of years ago, the Atlatl would have been your meal ticket.

Pete Weimer, of Fremont Indian State Park explains, "Fremont people could not run down to McDonald's or Burger King, pick up a hamburger."

Instead they picked up a forerunner to the bow-and-arrow, basically a stick with a couple of leather straps.

"Just stick your tip on the ground, put your atlatl right in the end, then just drop your hand down. Lightly grab it. This is ready to shoot right here."

Ready to hunt a rabbit or a deer. Prepared for battle with humans or wooly mammoths.

Weimer says, "More than likely. Because there's so much power in these things. Don't be fooled by this little stick."

Experts can throw an Atlatl dart hundreds of yards. But then there's the question of accuracy. There's no owner's manual, and no one around who remembers how they threw them in the old days.

Weimer says, "Well, whatever works for you, works."

Even the guys who work here have trouble throwing. "It's hard. It's difficult," they say.

And they've had lots of practice.

And it might be that's where some of the cursing has come from today. It's passed on through generations, that they didn't eat a whole lot by using this thing.

With every missed shot, a new appreciation for ingenious people who lived, and learned to survive, thousands of years ago.

They held the first annual Blanding atlatl competition in San Juan County a couple of weeks ago.

And on June 11th, the World Atlatl Competition is at Fremont Indian State Park near Richfield.