490 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 
two were the ash and a species of dogwood. ‘The latter had the same 
name among the Omaha, Ponca, Osage, and the Kaw, related tribes, 
Mo”’-Ga-hi, meaning arrowwood. The sapling of this species of wood 
was preferred because when in that stage of growth the wood is 
straight and has but few knots. 
The sapling of the ash is not used, for it has a large pith and the 
wood is soft. However, the trunk of the mature ash is cut into the 
proper length and split up for arrow shafts. Both the dogwood and 
the ash are polishable and flexible. The wood is hard, but will bend 
under strong pressure and not break. 
If by accident a hunter loses his arrows, and neither ash nor dog- 
wood is obtainable, he will use the sapling of the wild cherry tree 
for his arrows; but this wood breaks easily and is used only in an 
emergency. 
When the arrow shafts are cut into the desired lengths and roughly 
shaped, they are tied in a bunch and hung over the fireplace to season. 
This process takes about 10 days to two weeks. ‘Then the tedious 
task of the final shaping begins. First the arrow maker carely ex- 
amines each shaft; when he finds a crooked place, he greases the 
spot and holds it over the fire to heat; he then quickly straightens 
the crooked place and holds it securely until it cools. A deer’s horn 
through which a hole has been drilled is used for this straightening 
process. 
The next process is the final shaping of the shaft. A good arrow 
maker aims to make the shaft as nearly cylindrical as possible. 
To accomplish this, he holds the shaft in his left hand between the 
sandstone polishers, each piece grooved lengthwise, and gives the 
stick a twirling motion by rolling one end of it back and forth on 
his thigh with the palm of his right hand. He shifts the polishers 
along the shaft in order to keep it uniform in size. When one end 
is polished, he works in the same manner on the other end, until the 
full length of the shaft is round, smooth, and uniform. 
Then follows the making of the nock for the bowstring. In polish- 
ing the top of the shaft the arrow maker works it down so that 
the nock has a rounded appearance to give the archer a good grip. 
The notch of the nock may be shaped either like a V or a U. 
The next process is the grooving of the shaft. The arrow maker 
measures the top part of the shaft with one of the feathers to be put 
on it and begins his groove from the lower end of the feather. There 
must always be three undulating or zigzag grooves. There has 
been considerable discussion as to the meaning of these grooves. 
Some writers have said that the zigzag lines mean lightning, others 
that these grooves were made for the blood of a wounded animal to 
flow through. An explanation was given to me when I was a boy by 
an old Omaha groove maker, which is so simple and practical that 
