BULL. 30] 



ARROWS, BOWS, AND QUIVERS 



93 



backed bows were made on bodies of 

 driftwood. Asiatic influence is apparent 

 in them. (See Boas in 6th Rep. B. A. E., 

 399-669, 1884; Murdoch in 9th Rep. 

 B. A. E., 133-617, 1887, and Rep. Nat. 

 Mus. for 1884, 307-316. ) 



2. NortlicrnAth apascan. — Long, straight 

 bows of willow or birch, with wooden 

 wrist-guards projecting from the belly. 



3. *SY Lawrence and Eastern United 

 States. — Self-bows of ash, second-growth 

 hickory, osage orange (bois d'arc), oak, 

 or other liard wood. 



4. GiUf States. — Long bows, rectangu- 

 lar in section, of walnut or other hard 

 wood. 



5. Bocky mts. — (1) Self-bow of osage 

 orange or other hardwood; (2) a com- 

 pound bow of several strips of buffalo 

 horn lashed together and strengthened. 



6. North Pacific coast. — Bows with 

 rounded griiJ and flat wings, usually 

 made of yew or cedar. 



7. Eraser- Columbia region. — Similar to 

 No. 6, but with wings much shorter and 

 the nocks curved sharply outward. 



8. Interior basin. — A long slender stick 

 of rude form; many are strengthened by 

 means of a sinew lining on the back and 

 cross wrappings. 



9. California. — Like No. 7, but neatly 

 lined with sinew and often prettily deco- 

 rated. 



10. Southvest. — Like No. 8, but seldom 

 sinew-lined (Navaho). Small painted 

 bows are used much in ceremony, espe- 

 cially by the Pueblos, who deposit them 

 in shrines. In the s. part of this area 

 long Cottonwood bows with cross lashing 

 are employed by Yuman and Piman 

 tril)es. The Jicarillas make a cupid's 

 bow, strengthened with bands of sinew 

 wrapping. 



The bows e. of the Rockies have little 

 distinction of parts, but the w. Eskimo 

 and Pacific slope varieties have flat wings, 

 and the former shows connection with 

 Asia. The nocks are in soine tribes alike, 

 but among the Plains Indians the lower 

 nock is cut in at one side only. Bow- 

 strings are of sinew cord tied at one end 

 and looped at the other. 



Wrist-guard. — When the bowman's 

 left arm was exposed he wore a wrist- 

 guard of hide or other suitable material 

 to break the blow of the released string. 

 Wrist-guards were also decorated for cere- 

 monial purposes. 



Arrow release. — Arrow release is the 

 way of holding the nock and letting loose 

 the arrow in shooting. Morse describes 

 four methods among the tribes ^. of Mex- 

 ico, the first three being Indian: (1 ) Pri- 

 mary release, in which the nock is held 

 between the thumb and the first joint of 

 the forefinger; (2) secondary release, in 



which the middle and the ring fingers 

 are laid inside of the string; (3) tertiary 

 release, in which the nock is held be- 

 tween the ends of the forefinger and the 

 middle finger, while the first three fin- 

 gers are hooked on the string; (4) the 

 Mediterranean method, confined to the 

 Eskimo, whose arrows have a flat nock, 

 in which the string is drawn with the 

 tips of the first, second, and third fingers, 

 the nock being lightly held l)etween the 

 first and the second fingers. Morse finds 



TERTIARY Arrow Release Eskimo Arrow Release 



METHODS OF ARROW RELEASE 



that among the North American tribes, 

 the Navaho, Chippewa, Micmac, and Pe- 

 nobscot used the primary release; the 

 Ottawa, Chippewa, and Zuni the second- 

 ary; the Omaha, Arapaho, Cheyenne, 

 Assiniboin, Comanche, Crows, Siksika, 

 and some Navaho, the tertiary. 



Quivers. — The form of the (piiver de- 

 pended on the size of the bow and ar- 

 rows; the materials, determined by the 

 region, are skin or wood. Sealskin quiv- 

 ers are used in the Arctic region; beauti- 

 fully decorated exam})les of deerskin are 

 common in Canada, also e. of the Rock- 

 ies and in the Interior basin. On the 

 Pacific coast cedar quivers are employed 

 by the canoe-using tribes, and others 

 make them of skins of the otter, moun- 

 tain lion, or coyote. 



In addition to the works cited under 

 the i^\ih]ect Arrowlieads, consult Cushing 

 (1) in Proc. A. A. A. S., xliv, 1896, (2) 

 in Am. Anthrop., viii, 1895; Culin, Am. 

 Indian Games, 24th Rep. B. A. E., 1905; 

 Mason, N. Am. Bows, Arrows, and Quiv- 



