Looking at the majority of people involved in our sport, they seem to be mostly older white guys. That means that somebody has to be an Indian at a re-enactment. So I'm curious. How do any of you fellows turn a fat old white man into a young NDN Warrior?

Imagination

or you do a fat, old Indian... not all natives were young and thin anymore than all Euros were old and fat.........
For the latter I have a friend who does an impression of western trapper, booshway Etienne Provost who in 1837 at age 57 was described by A. J. Miller as having a corpus as round as a purpose.
For the former I do an impression of a mixed blood mixed blood (Tuscarora/Euro) who went west in the early 1800s and who now in the 1850's is an old and some what corpulent "retired" trapper turned trader......

So here you see Im your basic blonde haired, blue eyed guy



But with the judicious application of a Mach III razor, a set of brown contacts and some bear grease and ocher plus some body piercing and tattooing........

Interesting thread. If I were able I'd certainly adopt an Indian persona. Though my hair WAS black and eyes brown the hair - ugh! - is now silver gray.

Hanshi, Let your hair go long, put in brades
go get sunburned, were little clothing.find young madein,are old woman,live in tipi.
What more do you want? Ha Ha Anything is possible,Just go for it.Lifes to short not to.

My wife refuses that I grow my hair long (again) and absolutely won't let me hang out with a young maiden - beats me why not.

Far as silver grey hair goes, jist means yer an "old" injun! Happened ta them, too, y'know!

Within this subjecf line, would any of you have some good hints on marking or decorating a bow? I'm wanting to make an Indian styled bow, Western tribe. Shoot sharp, Mike

Hey Mike,
A good friend of mine makes Indian style bows .
If you would like I could see if he would be willing to give you some ideas and or tips.
Andy

Andy, Any assistance would help. I'm as eager to learn what to do just as much as what not to do... Patterns and colors are big "question marks" to me. Shoot sharp, Mike

Bows, Arrows & Quivers of the American Frontier by John Baldwin available from Crazy Crow and Others - lots of examples from various tribes

two sites with originals - use bow as your search term:
http://anthro.amnh.org/north
http://www.splendidheritage.com/nindex.html

one of the best makers today with examples of his bows
http://www.plainsindianbows.com/

western bows, especially sinew backed ones, were quite often covered with rattlesnake skin as a protective cover

three sites with orignals use bow as the search term
http://www.splendidheritage.com/nindex.html
http://anthro.amnh.org/north
http://www.nmai.si.edu/searchcollections/home.aspx

one of the best makers with examples of his bows - http://www.plainsindianbows.com/

Bows, Arrows & Quivers of the American Frontier by John Baldwin

western bows, especially sinew backed ones, were often covered with rattle snake skin as a protective covering

GreyWolf, The trails you put me on are a big help. I especially like the Mojave bow shown in one of those sites. Thanks for the tips. Shoot sharp, Mike

Just to follow up, I received a copy of The Traditional Bowyer's Bible (Volume 1) and now I don't know how this child survived so long without one. This is some doin's and it (so far) has answered all of my questions. And it has already addicted me to the point that I will probably get the later volumes at a rate of one per month. (By the way, this came to me from Crazy Crow.) I don't remember who gave me the tip about getting this book but I must pass it on. Shoot sharp, Mike

Yo Mike,

I finally found this string...sorry it took me so long.

I've shot traditional style bows for some time. Most of them are traditional "style" because they have modern ingredients but old school shape.

Along the way, I've done much talking with local archaeologists who turned me on to the following book.

Native American Bows by T.M.Hamilton.

the book was published by the Missouri Archaeological Society as their Special Publications No. 5.

You can probably find them online nowadays, or at:

Missouri Archaeological Society
P.O.Box 958
Columbia, Missouri
65205

It's a great book, chock-a-block with diagrams, photos, and descriptions of bows from all around the world. I used it to build a simple plains horse bow, which died soon after it was completed, but which shot the arrows I made with surprising authority.

Whichever way you've gone, or are going, expect to have quite a few false-starts and whoopses. And beware...Archery can be VERY addicting. I know; I've been shooting arrows since 1984.

And for now...

That's all I have to say about that.

Bows by Ed Scott

Laughing Bear, I've seen that book and it might find its way into my bookcase someday. For now the Traditional Bowyer's Bible is giving me more information than I can easily handle all at once. Maybe when I digest all I've found so far more guidance will be needed. If so, I'll just head right back here. Shoot sharp, Mike

Ron, The bow I want to build will be decorated something like a couple of those. Do you know what was used to color them? I'm tempted to try it with marking pens. Shoot sharp, Mike

Mike,
how 'bout using oil paint?
Andy