OMAHA BOW AND ARROW MAKERS? 
By Francis LA FLESCHE 
[With 4 plates] 
The bow, with its arrow, was the most effective weapon known to 
the North American Indians. This statement applies generally to all 
the tribes living within the United States, and in particular, to 
the plains tribes of the Siouan linguistic stock whose habitat for 
centuries had been along the Missouri River from its mouth to its 
headwaters, although some of the tribes belonging to this linguistic 
group dwelt along the Mississippi River even as far south as the 
mouth of the Arkansas River. 
The style of the bow made by these tribes was generally the same. 
That which was preferred and in common use by the people was a 
bow that was curved more at the head, or above the grip, than at the 
foot or below the grip. The expert bow makers say that the bow that 
is curved equally at the top and bottom works as well as the pre- 
ferred style, but the makers gave no explanation as to why one style 
is preferred to the other. 
The ta-ko"’mo® de, sinewed bow, was known to these tribes but was 
seldom used. As a bow it was beautiful, being gracefully curved at 
the top and the bottom as well as at the grip, but the experienced 
user of the bow turns away from it because it is a “ female bow ” and 
he wants a bow of a stronger sort. The sinewed back bow was not 
fitted to stand rough usage; in the first place, the bow itself is made 
slender in order to avoid clumsiness of appearance when the sinew 
is added and put on the back of the weapon; in the second place the 
glue used to hold together the fibers of the sinew can not withstand 
dampness; when the bow is exposed to the rain, the glue and sinew 
part company and the bow loses both its strength and its beauty. 
Several years ago I wanted to secure an Omaha bow, but there 
was none to be found in the tribe; for the weapon was no longer in 
use. A young man who knew of my fruitless search said to me: 
“TI could make a bow for you, but it would only be an imitation, not 
a real bow. Any man who can whittle and scrape with a knife can 
make something like a bow, but it takes a man skilled in the making 
+Reprinted from Annaes do XX Congresso Internacional de Americanistas, Rio de 
Janeiro, 1922. Published 1924, 
487 
