Eskimo archery
The Eskimo archery material culture produced unique and notable adaptions for archery uses in defense and hunting requirements. Because of a lack of wood resources, alternatives for bows and arrows were adapted in the Arctic environment.
Spruce, the most common wood used in Eskimo bows, is not considered a good wood for bows, but is the best they have. The Eskimo bowyer makes a Cable-backed bow when he wraps cables around the bow, made of sinews, twisted into cables about a half inch thick. The wide shaft of the bow, over two inches wide, relieved the tension in the wood when it is bent, and stores the energy which snaps back when the arrow is released. This is preferred to animal glue, which jells almost instantly in freezing air.[1]
There are several examples and images of Eskimo produced cable backed bows in the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University. "Southern type of Eskimo bow. To make the bow more elastic a quantity of small lines, each composed of a plot of three sinews, is secured to the back and to the knobs at each end. When unstrung this type of bow is generally sprung towards the back. Found among Haida and Tlingit- Alaska Eskimo."[2]
The bows were sometimes reflexed. "Reflexed refers to the shape of a bow, which, when unstrung, forms a “C” that opens away from the hunter. The reflexed Western Arctic type of bow was first described by ethnographer John Murdoch as one commonly used by Eskimo cultures of northern Alaska and the Bering Strait."[3]
The bows could be very powerful. "The Eskimo design took available material, which many would consider unacceptable for a hunting bow, and produced a weapon that could work in exrtreme cold and was powerful enough to take large animals as well as fight enemies. Early explorers reported that little Eskimo bows could almost drive an arrow through a caribou."[4]
References
- ^ Quidort, Darryl. TradArchers' World. Fall 2010. Page 43.
- ^ Peabody Museum of Natural History. Anthropology Department. Catalog.
- ^ US Government. National Park Service. Eskimo Hunting Bow." National Park Service. U.S. Department of the Interior. Gates of the Arctic National Park and Reserve.
- ^ Quidort, Darryl. TradArchers' World. Fall 2010. Page 43.
Bibliography
- Hamilton, T. M. 1970. "The Eskimo Bow and the Asiatic Composite". Arctic Anthropology. 6, no. 2: 43-52.
- Murdoch, John. A Study of the Eskimo Bows in the U.S. National Museum. [Zug, Switzerland]: [Inter Documentation Co.], 1970. Notes: Reproduced from the Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, 1884.
- Stordeur-Yedid, Danielle. Harpons paléo-esquimaux de la région d'Igloulik. [Paris]: A.D.P.F., 1980. Abstract: A study of arrow-heads from sites near Igloolik, including a morphological analysis based on a functional definition of the objects, a typology and a technical study showing how bones, ivory and antlers were chosen and manufactured during each period and for each type.
- US Government. National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/gaar/learn/historyculture/upload/Nigu_Bow_info_sheet_2010.pdf Eskimo Hunting Bow.]" National Park Service. U.S. Department of the Interior. Gates of the Arctic National Park and Reserve.
- Wissler, Clark. Harpoons and Darts in the Stefánsson Collection. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1916.
- American Indian Archery. 1991. Volume 4 - Page 35
- Fadala, Sam. Traditional Archery. "Eskimo Bow." Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2011.