A Native American Question,,,,

[mullet]

from real, Native Americans? I've had some  Creek and Seminole people look at some of my bows i've had at Knap Inns and other events. They liked them but would not touch the snake skin backed bows. Is there something I'm missing?

[Eric Garza]

When you say they wouldn't touch them, do you mean literally they refused to touch them or just that they weren't interested in buying them or didn't care for the aesthetics?

I have some American Indian in my lineage, and the idea of backing bows with snake skins utterly repels me. I'm not repelled by snakes, I worked for a few years as a wildlife biologist doing reptile surveys and have handled hundreds of snakes over the years, including rattlesnakes. I'd even say I find most snakes to be attractive in appearance, especially pit vipers that have ornate patterns to them like rattlesnakes and copperheads. I don't like seeing snake skins on bows though. I've never really thought about why I find it so unappealing, but I just do.

[Redhand]

Eddie, i was raised believing that snakes were evil, bad medicine, and not to be messing with them. I don't know why that's just what I was taught. So this bow I just posted was my very first attempt at messing with snakes, I know my grandfather would be rolling over in his grave and getting mad at me.  I can just hear him yelling from the heavens "leave that snake alone, those things are not good, it will make you sick"  When my mom found out I had picked up this snake , skinned it, and staked it out to dry, she got upset with me.  She said you know how your grandfather felt about snakes. She to me to get rid of it.  So I made this bow secretly.  My up bringing told me not to do it, but I just had to make a bow with snakes skins.  So please don't tell my mom.  LOL

[mikekeswick]

It makes sense. Maybe it is tied into the natural response of a human coming across a live snake or indeed any insect or animal that could kill you.

[mullet]

Eric, I won't say refused to touch them, they just wouldn't.

Redhand, that is what I figured was going on. It's funny, my Mother was the same way.

[PatM]

Snakes seem to be either reviled or revered so either way people generally seem to have some sort of reluctance to touch them or harm them.

  You can read up on the various views Natives had of them. It probably varies quite a bit. Much like fish being taboo to some and virtually the only food source for others.
 
  Speaking of snakes, somebody released a Copperhead at a local conservation area up here and sent everyone into a panic. It has been captured though. Venomous snakes are either very localized or extirpated up here

[JoJoDapyro]

The fear of snakes is completely natural. Then add in thousands of years of belief that snakes were bad, or evil. Even though this example is with an animal, Chimpanzees raised in the wild are terrified of snakes, while captive raised are not. But when a captive raised one is showed the reaction of a wild chimp to a snake, they will then show the same reaction to a snake from then on. 

Compare it to the reaction of someone taught something from birth. Religion (I know, I know) is a good comparison. No matter what you have been taught (For the most part) from a child, you will have a hard time to step away from those beliefs.

[Pappy]

Yep raise a child in the way it should go and it will not depart from in in old age. Some folks love snakes and some hate them, not sure why and not sure on Native culture but I for one have no feeling either way, don't mind letting them live but don't mind killing one if I have a need and man they look good on as a bow backing.
 Pappy

[Traxx]

Too Bad ole Bob Osceola aint around here anymore.He woulda answered your Question,regarding the Creek and Micosukee.

[bentstick54]

I'm with Pappy, have no problem leaving them be, but no problem killing one if the situation is deemed necessary. The only snakes I am scared of are the ones that sneak up on me. But once my feet come back down to the ground, they don't bother me unless they are poising a threat of some kind.I suppose due to my upbringing that they are dangerous and/or evil, but have always tried to conquer that and live in harmony with them. But yes, they do look good on Osage.

[MWirwicki]

I lived in Florida when I was in my 20's.  I shot a rattlesnake, skinned it and mounted it on a decorative board.  I gifted it to the bait & tackle shop that I used to frequently by gear from for fishing the Indian River.  He was very appreciative and hung the snakeskin above his entry door.  The following weekend I visited the shop and he kindly asked me to take it back, for fear of losing customers.  He said that during the entire week many folks that entered his store and saw the snake got all wierded out.  It was very bad joojoo according to some of his customers of color.  Some wouldn't even walk back under it to exit the store. 

[mullet]

I've seen it a lot with old florida crackers, matt, that's why I posted this. Bob (Osceola) Pm'd me a few months ago for my phone number but haven't heard from him. He used to come up when he had his Lab and I had mine and we would hunt squirrels together.

[Dakota Kid]

Snakes, spiders, and stinging insects are hard wired into your instincts as danger. I saw a study where they flashed 20 or so random images at participants rather quickly. Among they images there was a snake, a spider, and a yellow jacket. When they asked the participants to recall as many images as they could, everyone listed these three first. Some could only name those three.

Also a skinned backed bow, looks elegant and highly valued in most cases. They may have not wanted to touch them for fear of potentially damaging one of the pricey ones. 

Lastly, if one believes in karma, having wronged the spirit of the snake isn't a pleasant thought. If your view of death is not as final or terminal as the normal one, I could see not wanting to touch the skins.

[PatM]

That's likely a  learned reaction. though. You'd have to test people who had neither seen nor heard that those three are potentially dangerous to draw any hard wired conclusions.

  Watch how many toddlers grab insects of any sort.

[Dakota Kid]

It does seem that children have no fear of honey and bumble bees at first, doesn't it? My daughter grabbed a wood bee during her first summer. Now she runs and hides over flies sometimes.  I wonder if a toddler would grab a snake just the same.  You'd think that a natural fear of snakes would be one of those traits natural selection has favored over the centuries. Then again it may take that first encounter to reinforce or reveal that fear.

Once established, it does seem to have no dependency on species. Once the basic characteristics of the creature are learned, that primal fear doesn't care if it's a familiar spider/snake, a newly discovered one, or a stick/root that looks like one, or so it would seem.