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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 10 



almost exclusively for shooting smaller game in the 

 trees, while the bamboo-headed arrow is reserved 

 for killing the larger game on the ground. Chonta- 

 headed arrows average from 7 to 9 feet in length; 

 bamboo-headed arrows, from 8 to 10 feet. The 

 arrows used by the Siriono are probably longer 

 than those used by any other Icnown people in 

 the world. 



Except in the case of an emergency or a shortage 

 of material, arrow shafts (ekua) are alwa3's 

 made of reed (Gynerium sagittatum) . The plant 

 is found in abundance along the banks of the 

 rivers and at some points inland, but is only 

 suitable for use in arrow making for about 2 

 months during the rainy season — in March and in 

 April. Consequently, a whole year's supply of 

 not less than 30 reeds is usually harvested during 

 these months. If a man runs out of reeds before 

 the next season comes around, a species of bamboo 

 may be substituted, but this material is considered 

 inferior since it makes an inaccurate arrow. 



Like bow making, arrow making is exclusively 

 a task of the men, and, there being no specialists in 

 this occupation, each man makes his own arrows. 

 The reeds are first cut near the butt end and then 

 cured. This is usually done by diying them 

 gradually in the sun for about 4 days, but it may 

 be hastened by the use of fire. Before an arrow is 

 made, the shaft must be straight and dry. Wliile 

 the reeds are cm'ing, a man prepares the other 

 materials needed for the construction of an arrow: 

 feathers, chonta or bamboo heads, beeswax, etc. 

 Consequently, when the shafts are straight and 

 dry, all materials are ready for the construction 

 of an arrow. 



A chonta-headed arrow is made in the following 

 way. A shank of chonta wood about 18 inches in 

 length, pointed at both ends, and of a diameter so 

 as just to fit the hollow distal end of the reed, is 

 fashioned with a mollusk shell called urukwa. 

 About one-half of this shank is coated with pre- 

 pared beeswax called iriti and inserted up the 

 hollow shaft for about 6 inches. The part of the 

 shaft containing the shank is then loosely bound 

 with ambaibo bark fiber and left to chy. While 

 it is drying, a small conical plug (edja), likewise 

 coated with hot beeswax, is inserted in the proxi- 

 mal end of the reed. This plug contains the nock 

 of the arrow. After both have dried, the chonta 

 shank and the plug containing the shaft are bound 

 securely in place. This is done with fine cotton 



string which has been previously coated with 

 paint made from ground seeds of uruku {Bixa 

 orellana) mixed with saliva. To bind the shank, 

 the arrow maker removes the bark fiber and 

 begins to wind cotton string around the shaft 

 about 4 or 5 inches from the distal end, continuing 

 his winds downward until about 3 inches of the 

 protruding shank have been covered; to bind the 

 plug, he begins to wind cotton string around the 

 shaft from the proximal end, continuing his winds 

 about 3 or 4 inches down the shaft. The ends 

 of the string used for lashing are coated with 

 beeswax to hold them in place. The arrow is 

 now ready for feathering. For this purpose only 

 two kinds of feathers (eo) are used, except in case 

 of emergency. All chonta-headed arrows are 

 feathered with the large wing or quill feathers of 

 the curassow, while bamboo-headed arrows are 

 feathered with tlie large wing feathers of the harpy 

 eagle. Informants were emphatic in stating that 

 these are the only feathers ever used, and it was 

 rare that I saw an arrow feathered otherwise. 

 Occasionally, however, the feathers of one of the 

 smaller varieties of guan are used. 



Feathering is done by the Peruvian cemented 

 technique. Before a feather is put on, however, 

 about 5 inches of the arrow shaft, below the lashing 

 which secures the plug containing the nock, is 

 coated with hot beeswax. Then the aftershafts 

 of a feather are removed (the mandible, contain- 

 ing teeth, of the palometa fish is used for this pur- 

 pose) and placed over the soft beeswax along the 

 shaft and in line with the nock. They are then 

 lashed by winding at intervals between the barbs 

 of the feather a very fine thread taken from a 

 grasslike plant growing near rivers, called dicibi. 

 Nowadays, when available, manufactured cotton 

 thread is considered ideal for this purpose. After 

 the feathers have been glued and lashed to the 

 arrow shaft, the beeswax is smoothed out by rub- 

 bing a wet thumbnail over it. 



A single barb (erdsi), about one-half inch in 

 length, is lashed onto the chonta shank of an arrow 

 about half an inch from the point. Barbs are 

 generally made from the hard stays which grow 

 in the soft wood in the center of a palm tree which 

 the Siriono call hindoera, although chonta wood 

 is also used sometimes. The barb is flattened on 

 one end and lashed securely to the shank with fine 

 cotton string coated with beeswax. 



Bamboo-headed arrows are made in almost 



