Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Cameroo on July 21, 2011, 02:43:53 am
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Hey guys. I have a friend that comes from Cree ancestry and he asked me to make him a bow. I'd like to give him something close to what his people would have used. I know that it's kind of hard to pin down a bow type to a specific tribe. I've read the TBB chapter on plains indian bows, but was wondering if anyone has any pictures of bows that would have been used specifically be the Cree indians, particularly from Saskatchewan. I realize this is a bit of a strech, but just thought I'd throw it out there. Thanks in advance for any help.
Cam
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This looks like a good thread for Half Eye or maybe Marc St. Louis to chime in. If anybody could help, one or both of those knowledgeable fellows certainly could.
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The Cree out West now moved there from the great lakes region in the 18th century if I remember correctly. You'd probably be ok with any of the Algonquin language nations (Cree, Attikamek, Naskapi and Montagnais are the Canadian ones I can think of).
You can always look for an actual bow at the North American Ethnographic Collection : http://anthro.amnh.org/anthropology/databases/north_public/north_public.htm It has a lot of stuff.
Of the top of my head though, a square-ish bow with a D tiller, maybe 60" long of the densest wood that grows in your area would be pretty close to a Western Cree bow before horses came along.
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Marc St Louis may have info about Cree Indian bows. Maybe he'll chime in.
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My Dad is of Cree ancestry. There really is no set standard for the bows of any tribe, I'll get that pet peeve of mine out of the way right away.
The bow that Pope tested was probably closest to representative for the tribe but it would also fit 75% of the tribes in NA. in that area.
A short flatbow, generally of Ash.
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Cameroo.....might I suggest starting with the type of woods they had to work with in SK. Saskatoon, Chokecherry, Birch, Willow, maybe some ash way down south (but I'm not sure of that)...and even tamarack.
For what it's worth, I grew up in La Ronge :) (just to answer your question about SK bowyers, but now I'm in Calgary).
I did find a reference a while back to a group up NORTH Fondulac, or Ft Chip who made some bows out of tension wood on spruce.....I'll see if I can dig up the link.
edit - found the link. here you go. http://www.kitikmeotheritage.ca/bowmaking/Pitikhiliuqtut/pitikhiliuqtiit.htm
Note that this is for the Inuit, not the Cree, but I have to imagine that there was some overlap in the skills, particularily when the Dene', Inuit and Cree weren't trying to destroy each other. Oh, and of interest it appears they used the compression wood. Okay - now see that this is a cable backed bow...oh well....I tried to help. ;)
j
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You can't go wrong if you make a D-bow. Just make sure it doesn't have a handle riser or a cut-in arrow rest. The nocks are cut into the side, one on the top limb and one or two on the bottom. Make it as short and narrow as your skill allows but don't sweat it. Many bows in the north were made quite long.
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Thanks for all the suggestions guys. Sounds like I should pretty much continue what I've been doing - making D tillered bows without a cut-in shelf. I have a couple chokecherry staves seasoning now, I'll probably try one of them. The only difference being that I'll go a little shorter than I have been, and use the side nocks that I've seen in TBB in the plains indians chapter.
Another option would be to do one with a slightly setback handle and slightly deflexed limbs - those types are also depicted in the TBB.
PatM - I realize there's no standard for any particular tribe, I'm just looking to make it as authentic as I can. I'd like to put some kind of meaningful artwork on the back as well, but the plains bows were probably the least decorated bows, so that would take away slightly from the authenticity.
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Just to give an idea of the range of this tribe..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cree
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Just got back from a trip to Grand Portage Minn. Took in the National Park Service's Heritage Center. At the Ojibwe exhibit there was a native style bow along the lines of what we call an Oneida bow, about 64" long. It may or may not be bare any similiarity to what is historically accurate for the time and place. Just a thought.
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Posting this for halfeye. He's having trouble with his computer.
Note: The cree are Algonquian Language Natives and while this is an Eastern Bow the north western Cree and Ojibwe shared the same space from the great lakes to present day Idaho. They spoke the same dialect ( Oji-Cree) so it seems fair to believe that their bow styles might be similiar. The Eastern Main Cree bow is quite similiar to the Eastern (Riverine) Ojibwe. So this may be applicable as a fair example.
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Glenbow Museum in Calgary has some interesting photos showing western Canada bows on their website www.glenbow.org/collections/.
Image No. NA-1677-10 Sweetgrass, Manitoba Cree, 1872
NA-1406-124 First Nations of Eastern Canada, 1879 ( shows what appear to be d/r bows)
NA-843-31 Cree hunting equipment, western Canada, 1881
NA-1716-2 & Na-716-3 Joseph "Joe" Healy, Blood, in war dress, including bow, arrows and quiver, 1886
Na-1297-6 Mark Poucette, Stony, 1900
NA-1773-27 Blackfoot bows with bows and arrows, 1885
Not all Cree, but likely similar.
These photos are also available from Glenbow on high def DVD.
I numerous times saw an actual bow and arrow (Blackfeet?) on permanent display in the museum with other artifacts, including a scalp taken in fighting. If you visit there, it would be easy to estimate the dimensions. Their archival staff are also very helpful and would probably provide you with info on Cree weapons.
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Correction: should have been 'Blackfoot', not "Blackfeet' in last paragraph.
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Diligence - I was just checking out that link you posted. Although it doesn't really apply to what I'm looking for, I found it to be interesting. I've never seen the the 3 piece cable backed bow (ihualik) before. I would imagine it would be a lot more time consuming to make than the other type.
Paul - I'm having some issues finding those pictures. I've tried searching by image # and by description - I'm not sure why it's not finding any matches.
As a side effect of trying to find info on Cree bows, I've been learning a lot of other info about the Cree culture that I didn't know before. Very interesting reading for a rainy afternoon!
Thanks for the info guys.
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Cameroo: I went into 'Collections & Research'
then under 'Search the Collection', in "Select Search Database', choose 'Photographs'
then under 'Search the Catalogue', in Keywords/Phrase enter 'bow' and I searched Years 1800-1900
You'll get a lot of Bow River pics, but I don't know how to refine the search to strictly bows. This is probably clear as mud, as I'm not too computer savvy. Let me know how you do or if I can be of further help. Paul
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tried to send this photo to you for a week now. The new site wont let this Peabody museum photo post....I'm trying one more time to get the pic size increased.
rich
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Thanks Rich. Looks like the limbs are pretty wide and thin, and fairly short (under 50 inches). I'm guessing this is a horse bow, probably sinew backed?
EDIT: maybe it's longer than 50. How large would those squares on the ruler be?
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The bow stats were given as:
sinew backed wood
vegetable fiber string, hide grip, designs are described as pigment
95cm X 3 cm X 2cm
collected in 1890's, and is Eastern Main Cree
housed at the Peabody Museum (Harvard)
it appears to be what the Eastern Woodland bows described as "slightly double curved" looked like
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Yikes, that's only 37.4 inches! Pretty short for me :) I like that design on the back, looks kinda like deer tracks.
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Found a couple more, and they say where they were collected.
1. Cree, MacKenzie Borderlands.....collected in "The valley of the Sarkatchewan" sinew backed wood.....dimensions 108.2cm x 5cm x 3.4cm
2. Cree, Northern Cree, collected at Missanabie River, Ontario in 1908, dimensions 116.5 x 3.5 x 2
listed as a "boys" bow. (It is not mentioned how they came to that conclusion)
3. Northern Ojibwe bow so you can see the distinct similarities. These 2 bands were closly related to the point of having a distinct dialect of algongquian known as Oji-Cree.
4. a clse up of a Western Cree bowstring of sinew.
hope it helps out
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I don't know if this helps but I read a few books on IROQIOUS and there Territory's went into CANDA and I've read where they've ran raiding party into CREE territory. These were the eastern CREE They ranged though most of CANDA. Later on they were one of the six nations of the IROQIOUS NATION. So it's a good chance there bows were close to being the same. But like I said there was a lot of western expansion.