The Function of Ice-gliders and Their Distribution in Time and Space Across the Northern Plains and Parklands

Based upon early ethnographic accounts, the ice-glider was a recreational artifact, with limited distribution in time and space, first appearing in the early historic period and confined to the Missouri River drainage. Recent research has shown a more broad distribution across both time and space, extending its use into the precontact period and extending its distribution northward into the Northern Plains and the adjacent Parklands of Canada. Its earliest dated occurrence is in the parklands of southern Manitoba and the southern plains of Saskatchewan circa 1440 A.D. Ice-gliders provide a glimpse of non-subsistence activities of First Nations people prior to the advent of Europeans in the region. They also provide a useful indicator of site seasonality. Elaborate decoration on some specimens suggests to the authors that the ice-glider may have had non-secular applications as well.