North American Indians of the plains / by Clark Wissler.

  • Clark Wissler
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: North American Indians of the plains / by Clark Wissler. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of elkhorn, probably one of the finest examples of Indian workmanship: “They take a large horn or prong, and saw a slice off each side of it; these slices are then filed or rubbed down until the flat sides fit nicely together, when they are glued and wrapped at the ends. Four slices make a bow, it being jointed. Another piece of horn is laid on the center of the bow at the grasp, where it is glued fast. The whole is then filed down until it is perfectly proportioned, when the white bone is ornamented, carved, and painted. Noth¬ ing can exceed the beauty of these bows, and it takes an Indian about three months to make one.” (Belden, 112.) All these compound bows are sinew-backed, it being the sinew that gives them efficiency. Some fine old wooden bows may be seen in the Museum’s Dakota collection. A lance was frequently used for buffalo: in the hands of a powerful horseman, this is said to have been quite effective. There is a stone-pointed lance in the Nez Perce collection which may be of the type formerly used, Fig. 2. Wounded animals and those in the
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