Mallet

With its handle ending in a leather-covered stone, this mallet was probably used to grind meat or other substances into powder.

For example, a mallet is needed make pemmican (from the Cree word “pimikan”), a long-lasting preserved food, prepared with bison, caribou, or deer meat. The meat is first dried, then finely chopped, and finally mixed with fat, to which blueberries or cranberries are added. The result is a highly nutritious bar that can be easily transported on hunting expeditions. It seems to be particularly popular with Indigenous peoples in western Canada.

Mortars and pestles, or even stones, can also be used to powder different foodstuffs.