Archery Technology of North American Indigenous Peoples

The North American Native did not commonly have horses until the19th century and they did not  have the bow and arrow either, until about 500 A.D. 
Even after bows and arrows were acquired, (from where, no one knows for sure, most probably from early Chinese and Norse explorers and traders) the club, axe, and lance or spear remained the weapons of war and for the killing of large game animals as they were in most other parts of the world.

The primary benefits of the bow and arrow over the spear or lance are a slightly higher missile velocity, sometimes, a higher degree of accuracy, greater ease of mobility, and the possibility of repeat fire. Arrowheads also require substantially less raw materials than spear heads. Even with the guns many advantages, arrows are much quieter than guns allowing the hunter more chances to strike at small prey.The north American native undeniably did, on rare occasion, use arrows to kill animals as large as bear, moose or even bison; but these occasions were very, very, rare indeed.

The obvious disadvantages are that they did not cause so massive a wound, lacked the weight and momentum (drop a two ounce lead ball and a twenty pound lead ball from top of a forty storey building; both will have exactly the same velocity, when they reach the ground but, the twenty pound ball will do much more damage), for deep penetration and therefore lacked killing power of a lance or spear--this is why spears or harpoons, and not any form of arrow, were used for whaling. The crafting, of  arrow or bow, is also very labour intensive and time consuming.

 While, in these days of poor quality, massive, assembly line construction; when the major concern is the bottom line profit, it may be impossible for many of us to even conceive of such a thing--

By the time all the necessary materials had been gathered and prepared, the crafting of a single arrow may have required up too six months and for a bow a year or more.

I have heard the claim that shorter bows were used when hunting on horseback. Except for the modern compound bow, a shorted bow generally  means less power. It is also true that other than for trick shot artists from "Buffalo Bill's wild west show or other carnivals (they actually use shot and not bullets) or John Wayne and other cowboys in Hollywood movies, a hunter, or the military, would never fire a fire-arm or use a bow when on horse back--for obvious reasons--Come on people, let's get real-- it would be almost impossible to remain balanced or in any kind of control and still draw a bow of any draw weight while riding "full tilt", and just as impossible to aim and hit a given/specific target. The shoulders of bison were and are often so caked with clay or mud on which even a lead bullet, fired from a high powered rifle will simply spatter not penetrating at all and as any true hunter also knows, even a "heart shot" animal can often travel large distances before falling, especially if the animal was being chased and in a full gallop when shot.

Native Bows

Starting with the arrows:

Fletching of bird feathers was sewn too or inserted in the shaft. They might come from any type of large bird--anything that was readily available, including crow, goose, hawk, occasionally even eagle. Sinew was generally used to attach the fletching, by first stripping some of the feather from the front and back of the vane and then tying the vane to the shaft in front of and behind the remaining feather. While sometimes, plant twine was used to sew through the quill, and hide glue  used with or instead of sinew ties; animal products, in this case, have the advantage of tightening as they dry.

The fletching balances the weight if the arrowhead and causes a slight drag to prevent the arrow from tumbling end-over-end in flight. When fletched properly, an arrow will usually spin in flight producing an ideal trajectory and slightly more shock or killing power. A similar effectiveness is gained by placing groves in the barrel of a rifle (this is what give a rifle more killing power than a gun).

Archery is a complex technology. Each element must be balanced in proportion to the others and to the user to make an effective tool. This, of course, using the material and tools available to the native crafts-man, was extremely difficult, almost impossible, and at best the resulting products were always "hit or miss". A carefully crafted bow could, and often did, break the first time it was drawn. Arrows often lacked spine and so could either break on release; or go flying off at a random, sometimes very embarrassing angle--sometimes instead of the intended game, it was another hunter who was killed.

The height and strength of the archer determines the ideal draw and weight of the bow. A combination of the length of draw and the draw weight of the bow determines the cast (propelling force) of the bow. Adjusting either, or both, of these features allows the arrowhead to be made larger or smaller as needed.

The draw weight of the bow also determines the ideal weight and diameter of the arrow shaft. Even a bow with a high draw weight can only throw an arrow so far. If the arrow is too heavy it will not fly far or fast enough to be very useful. A shaft that is too thick, or too thin will also lead to problems. It must compress enough to bend around the bow stave as it is launched by the string. If it does not bend, the arrow flies to the side of the intended target. If it bends too much, it will also fly off in a random direction or wobble in flight (reducing the striking force) or even shatter.

The length of the draw, also determined by the body, and stance, of the archer, determines the length of the arrow. The maximum cast of the bow determines the maximum weight of the point. A general rule of thumb is that a stone arrow head will be less than 1 1/2-x-3/4- inch in dimensions and will weigh less than 1 ounce. Anything larger would have been a spear or knife.

Arrow Shafts

It is commonly believed that arrow shafts were made out of shoots, such as dogwood, wild rose, ash, birch , choke-cherry, and willow and I suppose that they were--on rare occasion. But this was a very inefficient and time consuming method of obtaining what infallibly turned out to be very inferior, unreliable, shaft material. If, or when, using this method; the shoots were shaved, sanded, or heat and pressure straightened. Tools made of bone, or sandstone were used to straighten the shaft wood. While the North American native did not fall many trees they did fall some; as evidenced by their totem poles. They also cut and split small logs. It was, actually, through a process (very similar to producing cedar shakes) that most of the arrow shafts were produced.

Points

Points were attached to the arrow shaft with a variety of methods. Most frequently, the arrow shaft would have a slit cut into the end to accept the point. Sinew would then be wrapped around the shaft to pinch the slit closed. Points could also be hafted directly by wrapping sinew around the point and the arrow shaft.

The indigenous peoples made many types of arrowheads. In addition to the supposed (Hollywood style) traditional triangular stone arrow head, (most of which were really points for the long, spear-length atlat-spear thrower shafts), bark, bone and carved wood, were also, actually, far more commonly used.
 Different types of arrow tips were used for different purposes, such as larger game versus small game. Small triangular stone points are not bird points: large, blunt-tipped wooded points were used for birds Harpoon-like points also exist and were used in fishing.

My grandfather crafted many fine bows.The bows he crafted however, tended to be much longer than the traditional bow of the North American Native--more like the long bows used by the English. He seldom used composite materials, thinking that such bows had a much slower cast and that due to conditions of humidity and temperature they tended to separate. His much preferred material was hickory.

The bow should act as a pair of springs connected by the grip or handle. As the string is pulled the material in the inside or belly of the bow limbs compresses, while the outside or back is stretched and is placed under tension. This double action stores the energy used to draw the string back. When the string is released, the limbs quickly return to their state of rest and release the energy stored by drawing the string. Therefore, the power of a bow is measured in terms of draw weight. 

While some materials were generally more readily available than others,the choice used in the manufacture of  the bow, or the arrows to go with it, could not be random. All arrow shafts (including modern composites) tend to--MUST-- bend to some extent just after release. If the arrow hasn't got enough spine, that's when embarrassing accidents--like the one mentioned above--can occur.

Humidity and temperature affect both wooden, and composite bows, made of wood, horn, and antler. Since the length of the bow determines the stress placed on the bow when drawn, shorter bows tend to be made of composite materials.

The North American Native used a variety of materials to make the bow stave, relying on materials were available and that met certain requirements, most important of which is flexibility--without breaking. Several species of plants, and some animal materials, often, or at least sometimes, met these requirements. Ash, hickory, locust, Osage-orange, cedar, juniper, oak, walnut, birch, choke cherry, and saskatoon woods were used. Elk antler, mountain sheep horn, bison horn and ribs, and caribou antler were also used, where and when available.

Bow construction techniques included a single stave of wood (self bow), wood with sinew reinforcement (backed bow), and a combination of horn or antler with sinew backing (composite bow) Hide glue was used to attach the backing.

Although sometimes used, contrary to popular belief, bow strings made of sinew WERE NOT the most frequently used. More often, plant fibres, such as the inner bark of basswood, slippery elm, cherry, nettles, milkweed, were twisted or woven into strings. Well-made plant fibre string is far superior to string made of animal fibres, because it holds the MOST  weight while resisting stretching and remaining strong in damp conditions. However, naturally, plant fiber strings are generally much more labour intensive to make than animal fibre strings.

I have heard that after the introduction of the horse, North American natives started making their bows shorter--sometimes as short as three feet that may be true; but remember BOTH length of draw and draw weight determines the cast of a bow. True, many modern compound bows are only 34 inches long but a compound is much different from a re-curve bow and an entirely different proposition from the straight single staved bows used by the North American native. Native bows were also not equipped with braided 100 pound test nylon bow strings.