674 NORTH AMERICAN BOWS, ARROWS, AND QUIVERS. 



was hois (Pare [Macluni auyaHtinca). Wlieu these could uot be obtained 

 liickory or coffee bean {(ri/i)iiioch(<his C((ii(((h')isi.s) was used. The name 

 ti-r((]i-i.s, bow, seem to indicate that bows were once made of bone, the 

 ribs of thebuft'alo or other hir^e animal, skillfully fitted and wrapped 

 throughout with sinew. Forty years ago bows of this kind, and also 

 of elk horn were occasionally found in use. Choice bows were some- 

 times nmdeof red cedar, and if carefully used answered well, but were 

 extremely liable to be shattered by any rough handling. The making 

 of a good bow was a task involving long and painstaking labor. It 

 was wrought into shape only a little at a time, being repeatedly oiled 

 nu'anwhile, and constantly handled to keei) the wood pliable. When 

 tinishe<l the bow was sometimes wra])ped with sinew and its strength 

 thereby greatly increased. The string was of sinew from the back of 

 the buffalo. As soon as the sinew was taken from the animal the i)ar- 

 ticles of tiesh adhering were scraped off and the minute fibres care- 

 fully separated. The best of these were selected and twisted into a 

 string of uniform size and elasticity. One end of this string was 

 fastened securely in place u[K)n the bow, and the other lurnished with 

 a loop so adjusted that in an instant, as occasion required, the bow 

 might be strung or unstrung. 



'■According to ])unbar much labor was sjtent by the Pawnees in the 

 construction of ariows. The shafts were made from sprouts of dog- 

 Avood {Cornus stoJ<mifer((). The bark was removed and the rods were 

 rubbed between two grooved stones, held firmly together in one hand 

 till reduced to a proper size and smoothness. The head, made of hoop 

 iron, was then inserted in one end of the shaft and bound in position 

 with sinew. The back end of the shaft was now furnished with a triple 

 row of feathers attached by means of glue and sinew and the end 

 notched to fit the bowspring. With a small chisel-like instrument 

 three slight grooves or channels were cut along the shaft between the 

 head and the feathers and the arrow was complete. Various reasons 

 were assigned for this channeling. Some claimed that it caused the 

 arrow to adhere more firndy in the wound; others tliat it was simply 

 designed to facilitate the fiow of blood. The ntanufacture of arrows, 

 as of bows, was a slow and irksome process. Three or four were prob- 

 ably the limit of a day's work, even after the rough nuiterial was 

 already at hand. So exact were they in making them that not only 

 were the arrows of different tribes readily distinguishable, but even 

 individuals could recognize their own arrows Avhen thrown together 

 with those of others of the same band. Disputes sometiines arose after 

 the slaughter of a herd of buffalo as to whose some particular carcass 

 rightfully was. If the arrow still remained in the body the question 

 was easily decided by drawing it out and examining tlie make of it. 

 Some indians made two kinds of arrows, one for hunting and another 

 for war. In the latter the head was so fastened that when an attempt 

 was nnide to draw the shaft from a wound the head was detached and 

 remained in the body of the victim. The Pawnee never used such. 

 When once he had i)ossessed himself of a good bow and a supply of 

 arrows the Pawnee was as solicitous in the care of them as a hunter 

 would be of a choice rifie. The bow, if not in actual service, Avas kei)t 

 close in its case, and the arroAvs in the quiver. Great pains were taken 

 that they should not become by any chance wet, and much time Avas 

 s])ent handling them, that the bow should not lose its spring and the 

 arroAvs should not warp. The average length of the former was 4 feet; 

 of the latter 26 inches."* 



J. B. Dunbar: Pawnee Indians, sec. 20. 



