How did "primitives" tiller?

[sleek]

Badge, so you chase a belly and a back ring, then side tiller? May I see a pic of the belly of a bow you did like this?

[Badger]

Sleek, if I can borrow a camera. Mine was stolen last year. They look just like any other belly, I only chase the ring down the center of the limb and then even up the lines on the side of it before starting my tapers.

[Pappy]

I do that also Steve on straight grained wood,it is a very good indicator if you are keeping the point right in the center.Don't always work so well on character wood
same as the Tiller gismo don't work that good on character staves with lot of humps/dips and dives in them,then it is almost all done by eye for me.
   Pappy

[crooketarrow]

 I'd away wanted that also, I once did a survile class where we were gave a seasoned sapleing. You teamed up with someone. We did it just by looking. A couple year later I met CROOKETARROW. HE'S BEEN MAKEING BOWS FOR OVER 50 YEARS. He said he just tiller by haveing someone draw while he looked. He told be thats how the IROQOIS had aways did it. Then he used a old fence post when I met him.
  He also way blew me away just tillering on his lap. I built him a tree with a scale and pully. He said that was the best gift he's ever got. He used ir 7 or 8 brfore his death.

[Gaust]

I would like to think the primitives tillered by first drawing a circle in the sand;  then bracing their bow against their foot and pulling it to check against the curve of the circle.

[_Jon_]

  Most of them proably lived in tribes like twin oaks and had old experienced guys like Pappy showing them how to do it.

 

[jflute]

Hi everyone I'm new to this site and glad to have found it. I'm Dakota, born and raised in SD. Over the last year I've had one of those ah-ha moments and since have had deep passion to learn the old methods of bow making. In this day in age there is no one where I'm from making bows. In reading up on here, watching youtube, and reading some other books, I've been discussing my peoples history on bowmaking with my dad. He told me this story about a connection between king George 3 and my tribe. The king heard of a legend of one of the warriors being able to kill 2 buffalo with 1 arrow. The king dispatched an explorer, I think Longfellow? He was able to have a interpret/guide take him to this village. He met with the warrior and asked for a trade. The warrior didn't want to give up this bow for any amount of gold or jewels as they couldn't provide for his family as the bow could. As a sense of relevancy to this discussion the warrior told the kings men that the maker of the bow was really the one to talk to or get credit for the bows ability to kill even 1 buffalo.
So I think the ancient ones would have religious implications to the bows (as a shot out to the rules I just read being taboo I'd like to add a certain paradox to those rules..) Being the ancient ones relied on those tools to survive there would be a sense of godly power associated to those tools. Not to go all avatar but the natives to this land were and are still very much connected to the lands. p.s. the Kings explorer did come to a trade agreement with the warrior and returned the bow to the king. If anyone else knows of this story or knows where this bow may currently be located please let me know.

[sleek]

Fascinating read there Jflute....

[Traxx]

In this day in age there is no one where I'm from making bows

Where are you from?
There are a few here,from SD that make bows.Maybe,they can help you.

[woe]

i cant say for sure on the "how".  But as a 28 yr  registered tribal member to echota cherokee-south of chaTtanooga bout 35 miles i can tell u that the pre  white man  cherokee nation organized school curriculums for children during the months when hardwoods had no foliage.  Gathering having been done in spring and summer the adults spent winter days involved in some aszpect of the hunt.  Each grade-agegroup of younguns occupied space underneath old growth eastern red cedars.  Work stations remained fairly dry and parents could look down from any peak on ridges or mtns n know where their kids were.  This was required til kids were 12 to 14 yrs.  They learned from each other n from elders who were beyond abilities for harvest n curing of game.  So by the time boys n girls were strong they were proficient aT all skills and each grade level had found their respective strengthsz n weakness for to best work together from then on.  So i would guess the boy who understood bowyering best became the goto guy.

[DuBois]

Randman, I do it the same way, I actually chase one ring on the belly and then start putting in my tapers.

I have that going on now with a mulberry bow with fat rings I can see real good so I have tried to follow them on the belly side and it seems real good way so far.
I did some shadow tillering in the garage on a couple bows but there's 4 lights on the ceiling so... Still worked pretty good I think.

i cant say for sure on the "how".  But as a 28 yr  registered tribal member to echota cherokee-south of chaTtanooga bout 35 miles i can tell u that the pre  white man  cherokee nation organized school curriculums for children during the months when hardwoods had no foliage.  Gathering having been done in spring and summer the adults spent winter days involved in some aszpect of the hunt.  Each grade-agegroup of younguns occupied space underneath old growth eastern red cedars.  Work stations remained fairly dry and parents could look down from any peak on ridges or mtns n know where their kids were.  This was required til kids were 12 to 14 yrs.  They learned from each other n from elders who were beyond abilities for harvest n curing of game.  So by the time boys n girls were strong they were proficient aT all skills and each grade level had found their respective strengthsz n weakness for to best work together from then on.  So i would guess the boy who understood bowyering best became the goto guy.

woe, thank you for this history. Makes perfect sense now that I read it.

And, thanks to all you guys for the replies.

Marco DuBois