For about a month, I’ve been going out in search of hardwood shoots suitable for arrow construction. The experience has given me some insight into the minds of indigenous bowhunters who roamed this area of the Midwest since around 500AD. Back then, Southeastern Minnesota didn’t have I-90 running through it or cities and towns all over. It was oak savanna around here. There was prairie grass and brush and the Red Cedar River. Lots of small streams too. Lots of swamp land. A bowhunter would not have had to look very hard to find beautifully straight shoots of red osier, hard and soft maple, black ash, chokecherry and other hardwoods. The oaks, walnut, elms, chestnut, hickory, wild rose and other shoots were scattered about. This past week, I cut a couple of white willow shoots. A day later, I returned to find the spot dug out and hundreds of shoots hauled away to make room for a drainage pipe. Twenty yards away and only 10 feet from the I-90 north fence, I cut another black ash shoot. For me, finding shoots that are straight as an arrow is a challenge. They’re scattered about in small clusters. I can imagine there was once mile after mile of swampy ground and red osier right where I was standing. That leads me to the conclusion our bowhunter from the past had pretty straight arrows in his quiver. He also had an understanding of the use of heat to harden wood and grooved and heat-treated most of his shafts to help keep them straight.

Popular wisdom tells us to harvest shoots in winter, dry them with the bark on, bundle them and scrape bark off later. I don’t think my bowhunter from the past did this. He harvested shoots in the spring when the bark peeled off easily, saving him the trouble of scraping it off later. He cut them long, allowing them to crack on the fat end as they quickly dried. He could cut them to length a few days later and remove any cracks that might develop on an end. He placed them in his quiver, unbundled, and worked on straightening them during rest. Remember, they were very straight to begin with. If he needed arrows within a few weeks, he completed and used them. If not, he bundled them and put them away to cure. He had more game to hunt here, along the Red Cedar River, than anywhere else in what would become America!

Joe

Nice write up, Frisky. Jawge

Frisky, I bet there were elk, bison and moose along that river then. The same I-90 runs a mile from my house. There is an abundance of all the same flora you mentioned here too, minus that 200 yards wide swath across the state made vacant by the Thruway. And the elk, bison, etc. are gone from the willow bottoms. Moose are coming back though. I had a thought when you said 'during rest'. My thought was, I bet they did not have a lot of time for rest. They probably had to keep moving to discourage the mosquitos too. I wonder how they avoided getting eaten alive there in MN, where the state bird has a proboscis (its the same here), lol. They probably had to keep performing whatever activities they did in order to stay ahead of the gameand not have much tome to rest. It would have been a great life I bet. Chipping away at stone and straightening shafts. Not a bad way to pass the time.

They would have long figured out mosquito protection and would have been able to stay still in the wooded areas as the evening swarms came out. I'm thinking mud was part of their camo and protection. I also think they were busy but led a much slower pace of life than today. Plenty of time for daily arrow straightening.

Yes, Col. Albert Lea's report of the game sighted here showed it to be the most game rich region in the country. Lots of elk, bison and deer. Coyotes all over that he called brush wolves.

Joe

One of the misconceptions of modern man is his conception of what the Native American life entailed. Many or most of the tribes here in the east....The Iroquois 5 Nations, then 6 with the addition of the Tuscarora in the early 1800's, was noted as the first participatory democracy. The had pretty intricate villages/towns, and had folks who were involved in different areas of manufacturing. Anything from grinding stones to arrow shafts to spears, etc., were literally mass produced. No doubt there were individuals who liked to do their own thing Chief Jawge and Chief Durnell, etc., but they still had their experts, so to speak.

Right here in our area there were and still are signs of villages; charcoal mounds, remnants of the tools, arrow heads, etc. Here the Shawnee were the prevalent peoples and had many villages about the creek valleys.

They were very intelligent folks and quickly learned their trades. And likely if not for the white man's arrogance and greed, they would still be around....probably advising us how to do things to best serve man and the environment. 8^)

Yeah, I was thinking mud was probably involved. I bet the fishing was pretty good in that region too. Would have been a good living, in tune with the land and the Great Spirit. Too bad it's gone, the pre-1800's life that is.

Interesting thought process George D. It is sad that we as the majority of Americans are forced to "learn" or read the history of this great land through the eyes of the white man.

This area was a wild, fairly uninhabited region, but many tribes met here to hunt. There was a Chippewa summer camp site on the east end of the what would become Mower County. In the spring, they'd come up and visit the west end of the county where Austin now stands and tap maple trees. Jawge, you are correct. They would have had their arrow shaft experts, stone tip experts and the like. The Red Cedar was full of trout. Today, it's full of nitrogen and carp due to filthy, dirty, greedy, European dogs!.

Joe

whenever a conversation starts about native americans the "living in tune with nature" thing rises to the top. a lot of that perception is based on writings by white people for conservation organizations and have became "fact" over time. for example, the supposed chief suiattle speech that was actually a completely made up version by ad writer. land was owned by indians, land was tilled by indians, fires were set by indians for various purposes, fishing spots, gardening spots, hunting areas, pinon trees, and other resources were held by individual families for their exclusive use and by tribes for communal use. as my dad used to say, to deny that indians owned and altered the earth and the plants and animals on it for individual and tribal purposes is to deny them of having an actual history. as has been stated, they were not stupid. they used everything for the most beneficial use.

Not to worry, fly fishing for carp is the next big thing.

You tell em Larry.

Humorous thought- over here on the Left Coast, the Indian Casinos aren't allowed to have any dice-type games, and the Indians invented dice! Theirs had 2 sides, and were a popular winter game in the lodges when the snow flew. Ask Iktomi about it.

TinHorn

Larry- What you write is truth. For example, they cleared areas out and planted crops. However, they didn't develop what we know as an industrial society. They exploited resources but did not ruin everything in sight. It didn't take white settlers long to destroy 99.9% of the prairie.

Joe

Great writeup. When you really want to know the spirit of archery. Start making self bows and arrows and knapping heads. It will give you a completely different assessment and understanding and a closeness to the roots that you cannot get in any other way. I can tell you this. Native people that were lazy , Died young.

God bless, Steve

Larry, no argument there. 'In tune with nature' meant using, not overusing, what was there, to make a living. Humans including white settlers are part of nature, and metal, glass, plastic, everything not made from a meteor came from nature but was 'refined' into what we see today. The true 'in tune with nature' is how the natives lived though, not the greedy, wasteful, unspiritual, direction modern society has taken us in. Sure, they used it but they didn't abuse it like modern society does. Or else we'd still have trout in Big Cedar River, not carp and nitrogen.

I'm amazed at the natives craft and wood lore

I ALWAYS THINK LIKE AN INDIAN IF YOU COME BY THIS BUSH YOU JUST MIGHT GET SCAlPED too? LOL

Indian crafts and injuneuaty amases me as well.

If anyone thinks when the time comes to live off the grid we we get to that point there might not be anything to eat most might be poison.

I have relatives who are NATIVE AMERICANS (supposed to not say Indian anymore), and I asked them just how they collect shoots nowadays. I was told that don't do it at all anymore. Reason being, because they lost all their land to peoples with guns, they don't use bow and arrow anymore! And the very few who do shoot bow, well, they get their shoots at CABELAS!!! :)

I thought like an Indian just the other day. While starting this fire the old way. I'm not the best woodsman. But I know some basic woodsmen skills that would help me survive till help arrived. Good post Frisky!

The Indians that historically lived around Puget Sound, where I live, had a saying that I love, "When the tide is out, the dinner table is set!"

Thank, George. LOL. I don't want to be in tune with anything. I just like to make stuff. :) Jawge

Yeah there are only a small number of indigenous people who know the old traditional ways of doing things.Yeah us white fellows of European descent sure knew how to f;& k things up.How ironic because now we want to learn about that stuff.How much will never be known because of our wonton destruction of indigenous peoples and culture.So much for civilised white folk.Makes one think I reckon. OSR

Sometimes having a goodly supply of arrows, powder and lead was just not enough. In the winter of 1779-80, the snow in the vicinity of what is now Letchworth State Park, NY state, was five feet deep along the Genesee river. When the snow melted in the spring, a vast amount of deer were found dead and the game in the area all but disappeared. The Seneca Indians in the area were on a starvation diet for the next 3-4 years. This was told by Mary Jemison, a.k.a. "the White Woman of the Genesee." She lived among the Seneca Indians from shortly after she was captured by the Shawnee and French soldiers in 1755, until her death in 1833. She helped the Seneca get a better deal for their land at the Big Tree Treaty, near Geneseo, NY, in 1797.

C.W. Severinghaus and C.P. Brown wrote a document, in 1956, called "The History of the White Tailed Deer in NY." This was published in the "NY Fish and Game Journal" July, 1956. This covered the pre-colonial period up to 1955. It told of various methods the Indians used to hunt deer, their most abundant food source. In some places they set fires to drive the game to the hunters and in other places they built fences or palisades to funnel the deer to where the hunters could snare them. bvd

The most informative stories I have found on native americans were written in a series of books by Allan W Eckert. His " The Winning of America " series comprises of six books, including, "The Frontiersmen" a must read for any bowhunter. The books are historical adventurous narratives, with the inclusion of many actual letters and documents about the wresting of the North American continent from the Indians. Some folks may think " Pontiac" was just a car. Trespassing on his land was not a good idea! TLM

http://www.allaneck.com

Smallpox infested blankets "wrested" the North American continent.

I've read many old journals from the 1800s and 1700s from captives and woods men pioneers, things weren't like you think. Indian life was tough, full of murder, starvation and suffering. I read one account where the army destroyed one Indian village and they burned 10,000 arrows, that was during a war, they may have stocked up for defense but that's a lot of arrows.

North America during the French and Indian war was extremely violent. Atrocities were abundant. Cannibalism was not uncommon. It was the beginning of the end of the bow and arrow. "Progress" took place early, making it difficult to research the equipment used by the Iroquois nation, as many of their bowyers and arrow smiths were 'retired" earlier then the Plains and Western tribes.TLM

Oh the shame! It makes feel such guilt for the actions of my ancestors.

They sure did go to court fast to get this evidence and many more cases buried again.

Watched a small part of a documentary on the oil sands extraction industry in Alberta and the cancer causing byproducts being released into the Athabasca River. First Nations peoples in the areas are experiencing 4x the rates of cancer than normal just by trying to subsist on traditionalist foods being polluted by fossil fuel development. We are trying to become independent from foreign oil but we are caught in an ugly cycle of progress vs traditionalism and the impact on the innocents. What is the best solution? Can we ever go back to the way it was?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg28ww5IaXY

Choctaw- Your ancestors committed many atrocities against the poor, white settlers who only wanted to plant a few crops on a little land. That's all. Anyway, I thought it was interesting how I "discovered" the one and only correct way to make shafts and then found out the Choctaws did it exactly like I was doing, only 1,500 years back! They were the smartest tribe.

Joe

Joe,

I am for the most part White with maybe a faint smattering of Indian. My ancestors didn't commit any atrocities against the poor white settlers other than maybe a little horse theft against fellow whites. 8^)

Choctaw is a handle that was a nickname my mother had as a kid. I use it here as handle, but not because I am Indian.

The video I posted alluded to the recognized 'Native Americans' not be the first on this land. Like the Kennewick Man profiled in the video I linked, many 'Caucasian' appearing remains have been found across North America in the twenty years that appear to contradict the Indian's claim to being the first Americans. In fact the evidence is piling up to support the theory that a Caucasian civilization may have preceded the Indian occupation by five to ten thousand years. If true those early Americans were most likely wiped out by the arrival of the later Mongoloid arrivals.

The Indians have sued to obtain remains in many of these finds, and when they could get access to those remains they have promptly buried the evidence that would put and end to their grievance claims.

So the real question is who took the land from whom?

I figured the Indians stole "our" land and we just took it back, by force! Now, we all have to reconnect to the land through the making of wild shoot arrows!

Joe

Nice thread Frisky.

Well we all know why the Indians were here first..........because they had reservations. :-) sorry about that.

Ba dat boom.

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