Long fibers at front of fletching of Plains Indian fletching

[stickbender]

  All the above, plus for the plains Indians, when riding along side of a Buffalo herd, with all the dust, it would show up in a Buffalo's hide, to let the shooter know he hit the mark, if it wasn't burried further in, but most of the Buffalo bows were very short, and light in poundage, they would just fill the Buffalo's lungs with arrows, till it fell.  Very efficient method.  But not for the faint of heart, Buffalo are not timid, and can be very aggressive.    Good luck with your project. 



                                                                                Wayne

[JW_Halverson]

Having seen some of the damage done to 3/4 ton heavy duty pickups used in the Custer State Park buffalo roundup here in South Dakota, I can categorically say that anyone in a breechclout on horseback chasing buffalo gets my respect.

I wonder how many of them suffered PTSD later in life.  Repeated exposure to high stress/high adrenaline situations always has some form of fallout.  In our young soldiers returning from overseas we are seeing high rates of death from risky behaviors.  It would be pure conjecture on our part to apply armchair quarterbacking to the scanty recorded life histories of Native American men from well over 125 years ago, but still I gotta wonder.  Yeah, they grew up with horses, hunting, chasing buffalo, etc....doesn't change the biology of the human body. The more I know about their lives, the less I idolize it and the more I respect it. 

[docmann]

Also armchair quarterbacking, I would suggest that the genetics of the Plains Indians didn't lend itself to PTSD or similar anxiety-related diagnoses. I suspect, just like the short-neck giraffes, the braves who did experience this sort of thing were probably shamed and perhaps even ostracized, and would likely not assimilate well. The measure of a man, this type of man, was largely what he demonstrated in war or hunting, and when unable to perform in either of these arenas, he was likely not well-received.  It's an interesting question, and no-doubt a problem that would most certainly rear it's ugly head from time to time just like depression, etc.

[stickbender]

    Most of them didn't live long enough to get ptsd.  It was a hard life, with gorging on food when it was plentiful, and scrounging for whatever when it was not.  Arthritis, disease, extreme winters, etc. took it's toll.  So I guess, like the food situation, when you were young and healthy, you enjoyed life to fullest in whatever way you could, and then sat around the fire, and relived those days, when you couldn't, and hoped the tribe respected you enough, and found you useful enough to keep you around.

                                                           Wayne

[David_Daugherty]

I like the way they look.  Never made any though.  Might have to try it this year

[Oglala Bowyer]

PTSD was and is a real concept to our people. However, we had ways of preventing it from manifesting into something unhealthy I.e. Depression, suicide etc. We had ceremonies to assist us. One in particular was a ceremony called a waktoglaka or telling of ones war deeds these were accompanied by songs as well. Furthermore, if a man was successful in battle and taken the life if an enemy he would paint his face black to prevent the spirit of the enemy from following him home. In our belief the soul of the enemy would follow the warrior home and harass him. To us this is what causes PTSD for lack of a better word. I also don't believe that we were always in a starved state and were always 'gorging' ourselves. In fact, our life expectancy now is low so what gives? 

[Oglala Bowyer]

As to chasing a buffalo off horse back young boys were exposed to the hunt so the shock of doing it would not be so great. But because we are a spiritual people we offered prayers before and after the hunt to keep the people safe. Hope that helps a little

[JackCrafty]

Good info Oglala Bowyer.  You're awesome!

[JW_Halverson]

In fact, our life expectancy now is low so what gives?

You and I know it isn't from eating too much lean meat like buffalo. 

[IndianGuy]

Totally for decoration And the " lightning" groove was only to help keep the shaft stay straight. Nothing to do with mythical power. The wavy grooves are seen throughout the plains and for sure help keep the shafts from warping as bad.

[Oglala Bowyer]

Eric I'm only talking about the lakota peoples belief with the lightning groove and for us is not a bunch of mythical Mumbo jumbo. Now I can't speak about the southern plains view/belief about the groove so I'll defer that to you. Additionally, i do agree that they help maintain the arrows straightness.