Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 55 



spear in an emergency. The bottom was cut off straight. There was 

 a slightly greater bend above the grip than below it. Bows were 

 always unstrung when not in use (Dorsey, 1890, p. 47) . 



OK once watched Birdhead, the Northern Ponca chief, make a 

 bowstring by lapping pieces of wet sinew and rolling them together 

 on an old tabletop. When the sinew had dried "it would never come 

 apart" (OK). A generation earlier, a Ponca would have probably 

 used his thigh to roll the sinew. 



Ponca arrows were slightly thicker at the butt so that they could 

 be held more easily (PLC) . Since the Ponca used the primary arrow 

 release, pinching the arrow between the thumb and first finger, this 

 was virtually essential. Gilmore (1919, pp. 108-109) states that 

 arrows were made of rough dogwood or Juneberry shoots. PLC 

 mentioned ash as the principal arrow wood. 



Each man made his own arrowshafts, which carried his individual 

 markings, but the arrowheads were made by specialists who traded 

 them to the others (PLC). Ponca arrows were trifeathered. PLC 

 stated that beveled stone points were used, but this information seems 

 suspect, for PLC bases it on points which he has picked up at archeo- 

 logical sites. Points and feathers were bound to the arrowshaft with 

 finely split sinew. Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, p. 42) mention 

 clan markings on arrows in addition to the individual markings. 



At the present time the bow and arrow is found only as a child's 

 toy, and archery tackle has probably not been used in hunting for at 

 least 50 years. It is interesting to note, however, that in the Peyote 

 rite the staff of the leader is essentially an unstrung bow (in some 

 cases complete with grip and nocks). It is referred to by peyotists 

 as the "bow," while the drumstick is termed the "arrow." George 

 Phillips, an Omaha peyotist, said that this was because of the great 

 importance of the bow and arrow in obtaining food. 



Spears were undoubtedly used as weapons by the Ponca at some time 

 in the past, but after the introduction of firearms they fimctioned 

 mainly as standards or symbols of warrior societies (Skinner, 1915 c, 

 p. 786). Likewise rawhide shields were formerly used for defense 

 (PLC). These were made of the thick neck hide of a bison bull. 

 Both the shield and its soft buckskin cover were usually decorated with 

 painted designs connected with the user's "medicine." One of these 

 shields was still preserved by a Southern Ponca family in 1954, a 

 family heirloom used as a wall decoration. 



Wooden war clubs of the "rifle-stock" or "rabbit-leg" type were 

 popular among the Ponca. Prince Maximilian was given such a club 

 by a Ponca on his visit to the tribe (1906 a, p. 285) . Clubs of this sort 



