MATERIAL CULTURE 



25 



of elkhorn, probably one of the finest examples of 



Indian workmanship: "They take a large horn or 

 prong, and saw a sliee off each side of it; these slices 

 are then filed or rubbed down until the flat sides fit 

 nicely together, when they are glued and wrapped at 

 the ends. Four slices make a bow, it being jointed. 

 Another piece of horn is laid on the center of the bow 

 at the grasp, where it is glued fast. The whole is then 

 filed down until it is perfectly proportioned, when the 

 white bone is ornamented, carved, and painted. Xoth- 



Fig. 2. Lance with Obsidian Point. Xez Perce. 



ing can exceed the beauty of these bows, and it takes 

 an Indian about three months to make one." (Belden, 

 112.) All these compound bows are sinew-backed, 

 it being the sinew that gives them efficiency. Some 

 fine old wooden bows may be seen in the Museum's 

 Dakota collection. 



A lance was frequently used for buffalo : in the hands 

 of a powerful horseman, this is said to have been quite 

 effective. There is a stone-pointed lance in the Xez 

 Perce collection which may be of the type formerly 

 used, Fig. 2. Wounded animals and those in the 



