Native American bow build challenge and showcase

[half eye]

last 2.....The full draw was taken awhile ago so the bow is still in the "white.

[Aaron H]

Great looking bow Jon! I like that one

[jayman448]

so ive got a question about all these. i am noticing a bunch of very bold, bright geometric designs on these bows. would bows like this just be for ceremonial use or war? i cant imagine bright bows would have been very helpful as a hunting tool

[SLIMBOB]

Being inconspicuous was usually not a part of the plan.

[Knoll]

Man, Jon, that fd looks nice!

Rich, handle is painted also, or is that some kinda wrap?

[half eye]

Knoll, just paint...on the back of the bow....grip area paint goes all the way around.

Jayman, A lot of the Great Lakes bows were "not very much painted"....but a lot of them were painted some just the edges, others most of the bow.....sometimes with bright yarn wraps as well. It is my understanding that the decoration of a bow could be determined by the maker but more often by the carrier (owner).

Slimbob, believe that you are correct. Hopefully some of the Native members could enlighten us.

rich

[Hrothgar]

Nice bow Rich, your full draw pix says it all.

[JonW]

I like the lipstick Rich. Thanks for the comments guys. It was a fun bow to make.

[burchett.donald]

  Intriguing profile Jon, always liked liked the looks of this Shawnee bow...Rich, nice paint and hope to see the "Mohegan and rolled gut string" soon...Great teamwork and post guys...

PS... knife case is off the chain also...
                                                             Don
                                                             

[half eye]

Thank you Don, That knife is the one from the "red bow" set.....the case is white-tail rawhide that Mr. Burchett sent to me....I formed it wet, and waited for it to dry up, then instead of sewing it together I made small slits and tied it together with some braintan scraps....these were tied and then fringe cut.

Also forgot to say that the color choice for the bow was done because the bow fits in the 2-Otter set like it was made for it....so I went with colors that would match the set.

rich

[Philipp A]

Hi All,

I am new to this board and have been soaking up some of the information on here. I am also a fledgling bowyer that was inspired by antique Haida Gwaii bows displayed at the Haida Gwaii exhibit at the Canadian Museum of History. My son is a bow hunter and I thought I would try something new and make him a replica of one of the bows I have seen at the museum for this 30th birthday.

I went into my bush and selected an iron wood tree, watched a 5 part youtube series on how to make a primitive bow from scratch and way I went.

The red bow is a fairly accurate replica of the bow at the museum and is 73# @ 26" and 72" long. The green bow has the same art work but the colours are my own. It is 36# @ 28", 74" long and was a gift to my son's girl friend which also likes to shoot bows. Both bows are from the same log. The bows have a stiff mid-section since I was worried about hand shock. I would make them different now, but they have held up really well and shoot very nicely and have not developed any cracks.

The link below shows the bows:

https://goo.gl/photos/xtvsBVmbD5DMnEEJ9

I am also adding a couple of the pictures for each bow in case they don't load properly from google photos:


The next link shows Modoc Style bows where I had copied the design from the National Museum of the American Indian. I was doing well on the art work (I especially like the orange and black coloured design), but had trouble with the heavily crowned staves and ended up with fractures on the back of the bow in both bows. Since I did not have any sinew I fixed them with a fibre/carbon fibre patch on the back of the bow. They both draw ~ 55 lbs @ 26" and are 54" long

The link to pictures of those bows is listed below:

https://goo.gl/photos/q6XQhT7aj4cKHUNm8



Please let me know what you think. I am only a beginner so I am open to any criticism

[Thunder]

Great work everyone, thanks for posting.
I'll be posting as soon as I get a little extra time, I had my biggest clients all put me contracts right after I started this thread. Its been kinda hectic around here lately.

Cheers
Thunder

[JonW]

Phillip it appears that you have mistaken the Modoc bows and their reflex and have them strung backwards from what the originals would have been. The paint would be on the back of the bow.

[Philipp A]

Hi JonW,

Thank you for your comment. I realized this when I made the bows, but the HHB wood had such a heavy crown (was harvested from small trees) and was relatively uneven that it would have been difficult to put the art work on the back of the bow.

I now have much better staves and will make the next ones with the art work on the back and hopefully I will not break them. I have a bit more confidence now in tillering and I am also more patient 

[tipi stuff]

Well, in a previous post I said that I was kind of working things backwards. I have almost everything done,,,,,,,,,, except the bow. The quiver is actually a revamp. I took apart an old quiver that I made about 15 years ago, and added beads and fringe. The quiver is made from an elk hide that I tanned about 20 years ago. The arrows are new and the strike a light bag is fairly new. Next,,,,,,,,,,, I've got to get a bow in there.