How Did Indians Make Bows & Arrows?

Popular culture, television and the movies have made Native American cultures synonymous with the use of bows and arrows. You have seen images of strong Native American warriors racing across the screen, wielding deadly wooden arrows. While these images have been greatly exaggerated for cinematic effect, many Native American cultures were true masters of the bow and arrow and created these weapons and tools out of the environments that surrounded them.

Misconceptions

There are many misconceptions about how Native Americans made their bows and arrows. Many of these derive from television programs that were more concerned with producing props for television shows cheaply and quickly than with striving for historical accuracy. Often bows and arrows shown on television have been made of fiberglass with high-tension cloth rope or string and painted to look like wood. These differ significantly in form and function from true Native American bows. Still other images have been of what is commonly known as a "composite bow," which is a bow made from several flat layers of different woods and materials. The absence of steel tools in Native American culture would have made these bows impossible to create.

History

The history of Native American bows and bow making began nearly 10,000 years ago as an Ice Age gripped most of the world. Indigenous tribes in northwestern Asia crossed the icy land bridge from Asia to the area we now know as Alaska. It is believed that these tribes of hunters and gatherers followed herds of animals across this distance for survival. Stone arrowheads and skeletal remains of animals with arrow wounds have been found dating back to this time, showing that not only were the people moving into a new continent but they were depending on the bow and arrow for survival. During this time of history the nomadic peoples moving across the land bridge did not have access to iron technology. It was imperative to them to use items found around them to create their tools. Thus trees, stones and even animal sinew became the tools of survival for these new hunters.

Function

The bow and arrow operates under a simple concept. The limbs of the bow are bent and pulled tight by the string. This is then pulled back with an arrow securely in place upon the string and crossing the limb of the bow. The bow is a projectile weapon that fires the arrow by the tension created from pulling back the string. Once the proper tension is created, the archer lets the arrow go, and the string launches the arrow forward.

Identification

The bows made and used by Native Americans were what is commonly called a "self" or "true" bow. This is a bow made from a single piece of wood that is durable and flexible enough to be bent in the proper shape. The stone tools that the Native Americans used limited the amount of woodworking that they could accomplish, and a "self bow" allowed for a bow to be created without sophisticated technology. Theses bows had small notches carved by stone into the top and bottom of the shaft upon which to string the bow. The string itself was made from the very animals that the Native Americans were hunting. Animal sinew, a fibrous material inside the animal carcass was removed, stretched and twisted into string. This string was highly pliable and retained an enormous amount of tension, perfect for launching an arrow. The arrows themselves were made of small shafts of wood with feathers on the ends to guide the arrow. The head of the arrows were made of stone, most commonly flint. Flint has the advantage of lending itself to a process called "flaking," which can produce very sharp edges. A piece of hard horn from an animal was struck against the stone in carefully calculated areas, causing pieces of the stone to flake off, thus making the arrowhead sharp.

Time Frame

The bow and arrow was widely made and used by Native Americans out of necessity, but like all tools it was only made when pragmatically necessary. While bow and arrow making remained commonplace in many Native American cultures, the introduction of firearms by European settlers in the early 1500s began a slow cycle that saw the Native American bow taper off in use and creation. Firearms were more powerful and accurate and as the firearms themselves began to evolve so did their use in Native American tribes. Rifles were decorated with the same care and devotion as the more traditional bows and arrows and by the 1800s firearm use was widespread for hunting and warfare in many Native American cultures.

Resources

• DeepCreekTimes.com: A Brief History on Several Facets of Native American Culture