Native American Bows

[Traxx]

They are commonly referred to as Gull wing,or Double curve bows.
They are a short,Reflex-Deflex style bow.

[Justin Snyder]

Immortal, can you get your hands on some Roo sinew.  I imagine the leg sinew from the back legs is incredible in tension.  Do the best you can with the material you have. That is what the natives would have done, and did.  Justin

[Immortal]

Thanks Justin,
Good idea... Might have to give it a go now...  See what I can do...  An Australiana Native American-type Bow...

[makete]

Check out  trackofthewolf.com

[jamie]

cant remember his name but we had a fella on here who experimented with a lot of australian woods and created some excellent bows. if you can get some lumber start there. then start experimenting with other woods. i know you are looking for a plains style bow but there are plenty of other styles to do also. peace

[Hrothgar]

Immortal, don't you all have silver ash down there? We don't, but I hear it is a better bow wood than our white ash.

[Immortal]

Hey, I've been thinking about making this Australiana Sioux-type bow...  So been looking into the details a bit more.  I've decided that I'm going to try and make it with everything that you could posibly find in the wilds (barring maybe the tools) but the parts definately.  So my first consideration is what wood to use???  Silver Ash does not grow down here naturally or in the wild...  So unfortunately the Silver Ash is out...

Does any body have any ideas???  Would our Eucalypts or any of their types be useful???

[Immortal]

Does anybody on here make and sell any Native american style bows?  How much do you charge?  And how easy / difficult is it to import them to Australia?

[Coo-wah-chobee]

,,,,,,,,,Foks make em but I dont know about sellin' them. Sorry. Why not make one yerself with stuff available ta ya region ?...bob

[Coo-wah-chobee]

 Hey Immortal...I just remembered. Contact GraemeK hes a member of this board and comes from yer neck of the woods(Australia). Nice fella and very knowledgable about the woods ya have there. Euca is good as I remember it. I have used Australian pine as we call it here. It is invasive here in extreme southeast so considered "junk wood ." Causurina serifolia I think. Its more like oak than a pine. I think its a species of yer "Tea Tree". GrameK will know fer sure. Do a search I think he has an e-mail address listed. Hope this helps.........bob

[richpierce]

http://www.sfmission.org/museum/archive/images/bmlm_800.jpg

Don't give up so easily.
Find a bowyer near you and ask for help.
Lots of different designs were used, many of them recurved at tips and deflexed at the handle.  Some simple D shaped bows also.

[carpenter374]

growing up in oklahoma i have had a conderable number of indian friends so i'll pass on a lil of what i know to ya. the souix were mostly a northern plains tribe. it wasn't until later on they began to trade with southern plains tribes to obtain osage orange. most of their bows were ash, oak, birch, etc. the souix were native to
northern nebraska and the dakotas. their early bows were long wide and flat limbed. after the spaniards arrived and began trading horses with the indians they started making short bows they could use easier from horseback. they were usually but not always sinew backed. anywhere from 36-60 inches long and often reflexd at the handle. keep in mind that the short bow and the horse were considered ONE weapon. if you expect to hunt from foot with a very short bow you may be dissapointed. they tend to stack badly if not sinew backed and are much harder to shoot accurately. indian braves grew up with a bow in hand. Short bows even if sinew backed are usually tillered to a 26 inch or shorter draw, although good sinew will exted the draw to 28 or slightly more. hope this helps. get out there and shave some wood.