Sketches From Oldest America 



bow was made from selected pieces of driftwood, 

 reinforced by strips of wlialebone, and bound with 

 deer sinew. The arrow had two principal forms of 

 head, one of brown flint, the other of deer horn, 

 much longer than the first and nicked on the sides, 

 to make it hold in the wounded game. On being 

 struck, an animal would try to dislodge the arrow, 

 giving the hunter a chance to send a second one, and 

 so it would continue until a lucky shot proved fatal. 

 In constructing the flint arrow-heads, two instru- 

 ments were used, the "natkenn," a small hammer 

 made preferably from the base of the horn of a 

 deer where it enters into the bony portion of the 

 skull, and the "kigleen," a kind of sharpener made 

 from a piece of deer horn, with a small round piece 

 of ivory overlapping and bound to its upper surface. 

 A piece of flint being chosen, the man making the 

 arrow-head would place a deerskin mitten on his 

 left hand, then, placing the flint on the palm and 

 wrist of the protected hand, would strike the edge 

 of the flint with the " natkenn " so that small slivers 

 would be detached from the under surface. The 

 operation would be continued until the flint had 

 assumed the proper shape, and then the " kigleen " 

 was employed to drive and make the edge even. 

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