There is something specific about the moccasins that Georgia Wheeler found on the Spirit Cave Man’s feet — something that deserves more attention than it usually receives in accounts of the case.

Moccasins are not neutral objects.

They are objects of craft — the product of specific knowledge about materials, specific techniques of preparation and sewing, specific design choices that reflect the traditions in which the maker was trained.

They are also objects of relationship — made by specific hands for a specific person, in most traditional Great Basin cultures by the women who were responsible for the production of clothing and footwear for the community.

The moccasins on the Spirit Cave Man’s feet were made by someone who knew how to make moccasins in the tradition of the Great Basin region — whose hands had been trained in the specific techniques of hide preparation, cutting, and sewing that the tradition required, and who had applied that knowledge to the making of footwear appropriate for travel in the Great Basin landscape.