could paint on old plains bows be a moisture barrier?

[trail walker]

i am new to the P A forum so I'm not sure if this has already been discussed.
so i was reading in the TBB 3 last night and was read about how some of the plains Indians used to paint their sinew backed bows  with some type of red pigment mixed with prickly pair juice/slime. I also recalled reading on another a primitive forum some place that prickly pair juice could be used to make rawhide waterproof, or water resistant. so I'm wondering if anyone knows if the prickly pair paint would help act as a moisture barrier to help protect the sinew backing from water?thanks.
   

trail walker

[Pat B]

Contact James Parker He is a member here on PA I think he has used prickly pear juice as a carrier for pigment paint on his Asiatic horn bows.

[sleek]

Faaaaascinating

[Dakota Kid]

Water is polar, so as long as the prickly pear juice is non-polar(most organics are) it should offer some protection.  If the ground rock used for pigment had petroleum compounds it would make it much more effective.  Mixing animal fat into the mix would also boost performance.

[JW_Halverson]

Yup, they used prickly pear squeezings to treat their rawhide parfleches for waterproofing. If they knew it helped keep rawhide from rehydrating it is not great stretch of the imagination that they would do the same for the sinew backed bows.