Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: aaron on November 28, 2014, 09:10:34 pm
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This arrow belonged to my friends dad. He lived in Oregon and Washington, was "white", was a member of the "redmen", a fraternal order from days gone by. My friend is wondering what this arrow is. Is it an authentic native american arrow from the 17 or 1800's? Is it a replica arrow made for the "redmen hall". Here are the basic stats:
length about 24 inches.
diameter- 1/4 inch
Material- it's a shoot shaft, pretty heavy. Could be Ocean spray- it's hard to tell.
lashings appear to be real sinew- the feather lashing is quite well- done and the point wrapping is a little cruder, but pretty nice.
Feathers- grey and white and brown with some banding. Pretty worn, but may have been shaped thru burning- the edge is slightly wavy.It's hard to think that these feathers are more than a hundred years old- they're mostly complete. It doesn't look like they were "split" . That is, the quill is not super thin, Rather, they look cut. That is, the feather was split with an edged tool.
crest- a dark red paint under feathers and sinew near the nock.
nock-well carved, slightly bulbous.
point- steel. the stem has a few side notches as seen in old trade points. not pointy at the tip. edges sharp. tool marks look like a whet stone. unsharpened flat faces smooth.
Lightning grooves- these begin just near the end of the point lashing. they extend under the feathers, but do not go clear back to the nock. two are wavy, while one is straight. the grooves are quite flat on the bottom with perpendicular sides, and could be cut by a burin.
Here are my thoughts:
Looks like a real native arrow of the 70 or 1800's, but a few things are puzzling:
It's really short and seems like it would be stiff.
the point lashing is a bit crude- while the fletches are well laid on.
The feathers are really long in relation to it's overall length. feathers in too good a condition to be really old.
more pics to come
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Looks, and sounds like a plains arrow, for shooting from horse back.
Wayne
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There are a lot of short arrows similar to this one in Encyclopedia of Native American Bows, Arrows and Quivers - volume 2. The shorter arrows were shot from short powerful bows that were meant to be used on horseback. The shape of the arrowhead looks authentic as well
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It looks authentic to me but it could be a reproduction. Hard to tell from here.
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By the way, an authentic arrow can date to the 1920's. The Sioux were not allowed to have guns on the reservations so they hunted with bows to feed their families. Up until the invention of the Colt 6-gun the bow gave a tactical advantage to the Natives over the muzzleloaders. They could shoot and reload a lot faster. So arrows were used a lot later than you might think.
Dating an authentic arrow can be pretty difficult. About the only thing you can go on without getting all scientific is how badly the feathers have deteriorated. Your arrow has all it's feathers so I'm going to take a WAG that it dates no farther back than 1890's.
If you take it to a museum you might get a better answer. There aren't too many original arrows left.
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Looks real. The only thing odd is the tip, as you already mentioned. The long feathers are not unusual. It looks like it was "re-tipped" and is not tapered or wrapped in the authentic way. The straight cut-offs at the transition from arrow wood to steel point are a dead ringer for "tourist" arrows or modified artifacts.
Looks like a modified artifact to me. Very nice one, though. :)
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thanks guys. I had Streve Allely look at it and he also says it's authentic. He says possibly navajo.
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I would have to agree with jack crafty the area looks very authentic but I know no Native American good arrow maker would impede penetration like the front of that arrow would do they would definitely taper the tip so that the transition would be smooth but maybe they did it with pine pitch maybe that was their style build up pine pitch and smooth it down it would work but it's highly unlikely that that's how it was done I would have to 2nd jack crafty and say that the front of that arrow either has been replaced or it was made purposely to look old and authenticalso the Lightning grooves are squiggly not straight although some were found like that most of the time they were straight for the simple fact that it was easier to cut the grooves in them when they were straighteven if it's not real which I am NOT saying that it is not real it is still a great peace
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It would be the first time I've seen an old one the feather mites haven't nibbled on.
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This may sound arrogant but I consider myself an expert on plains bows and arrows and here is my opinion.
The feathers are raptor and are illegal to own unless you are a registered member of a federally recognized tribe. However if memory serves right you can inherit an artifact with raptor feathers that predates the federal laws if you can document that the item predates the law.
The arrow in my opinion is very authentic looking however I would say it is less than 100 years old due to the nature of the color of the sinew and how white the quill of the feathers are. Old arrows will have quills that will be yellowed with age and the sinew will not be as clean.
For someone to randomly say the arrow is possibly " Navajo" makes no sense due to the fact that arrows were a huge trade item and traded between tribes. Unless an arrow can be documented as coming from a specific tribe you can rarely tell one plains arrow from another. Several good points have been made by jackcrafty and you more than likely have a native arrow made in the 1920's or 30's. I would be careful showing it off due to the feathers and by all means don't try selling it!
I have researched plains Indian bows and arrows for 30 years and have taught archery history,bow and arrow making and archery terminology for the bureau of Indian education.
E
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Indianguy, thanks for the reply. The arrow is not mine. my friend who owns it inherited it from her dad. I'm sure she has no intent to sell it- she understands these things - she and I are both museum curators. The guess that it's Navajo comes from Steve Allely- he's also kind of an "expert" in my eyes, having authored chapters in TBB and co-authored books on native American bows and arrows (with Jim Hamm.) So, it may be speculation, but it comes from a good source. Steve is also a friend of mine. I appreciate your input and warnings on legality.