1892-93.] 



NOTES ON THK WKSTERN Dl^NES. 



55 



Lastly, a few points are of a black, very hard and fine-grained stone, 

 differing from the material of all the arrow heads already described. 

 Such is that marked j. It is the only one of that description which I 

 have ever seen. It is blunt-tipped, and with hardly any edge or sign of 

 flaking. It has the exact appearance of an implement very much the 

 worse for wear. 



There are to-day no well-authenticated Western Dene arrow-heads of 

 bone or ivory in existence. Their tip was not pointed like that of the 

 stone weapons. They were mere beaver teeth in their natural state 

 secured to a shaft. Some of these were also of the root part of the cari- 

 boo's antlers, and both bone and horn arrow-tips were considered 

 exceptionally effective. 



Fig. 24. Fi-. 25. 



In Figs. 24 and 25 1 have tried to illustrate the modes of connecting 

 the stone points with the shaft, as formerly practised by our aborigines- 

 Sometimes the shaft was simply cleft open to receive the point (Fig. 24), 

 and sometimes it was slit at the end as in Fig. 25. In either case, point 

 and shank were firmly fastened together with sinew and pitch. The fore- 

 shatts used along with the arrows of some American races were unknown 

 here. 



The shaft * of the Western Dene arrows was invariably of seasoned 

 amelanchier {A. alnifolia) wood. As partially visible in Fig. 25, delicate 

 grooves, one on each opposite side, ran through the shank of the weapon 

 and were intended to facilitate the detection of the game when it had 

 been only wounded. The blood issuing from the wound, by flowing 



K3S, a primary root. 



