UC-NRLF99SEfi14 517BPUBLICATIONSOF CALIFORNIAAND ETHNOLOGYARCHAEOLOGYAMERICANMarch 191821-37 6,Vol. No. 3, platespp. 103-152,13,ARCHERYYAHISAXTON T. POPEOF CALIFORNIA PRESSUNIVERSITYBERKELEYOF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONSUNIVERSITYINARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGYAMERICAN21-37 March 1918Vol. No. 6,13, 3, pp. 103-152, platesYAHI ARCHERYBYSAXTON POPET.CONTENTSPAGEIntroduction 103Technical terms 105The bow 105The arrow .. 110Manufacture of arrow 116pointsThe 118quiverthe bow 119HandlingIshi s records with the bow _ 123methods 126Huntingof 132Explanation platesINTRODUCTIONis a lost art. civilized it survivesArchery nearly Among peoplesas a It is well as late as twoonly game. known, however, that^evencenturies the bow was a with the flintlockago vigorous competitorin warfare. Franklin at the of the RevolutionBenjamin beginningconsidered the of the Americanseriously possibility arming troopswith the as a and more effective than thelongbow, cheaper weapon1flintlock musket. even of American IndianThat the thearchery was,asthe of as effectiveduring early periods occupation, substantiallyin the historic of somethe of the is attested recordsmusketry period2of the Such ofarchery has, course, undergoneexplorers. aboriginalbow. It is nowa decadence since the rifle has thesupplantedgreat1 in of theSee letter from Franklin to MemoirsLee,Benjamin Major-Generallate Charles second in command in the service of the United States of AmericaLee,of America ...
UC-NRLF
99
SEfi14 517B
PUBLICATIONSOF CALIFORNIA
AND ETHNOLOGYARCHAEOLOGYAMERICAN
March 191821-37 6,Vol. No. 3, platespp. 103-152,13,
ARCHERYYAHI
SAXTON T. POPE
OF CALIFORNIA PRESSUNIVERSITY
BERKELEYOF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONSUNIVERSITY
IN
ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGYAMERICAN
21-37 March 1918Vol. No. 6,13, 3, pp. 103-152, plates
YAHI ARCHERY
BY
SAXTON POPET.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction 103
Technical terms 105
The bow 105
The arrow .. 110
Manufacture of arrow 116points
The 118quiver
the bow 119Handling
Ishi s records with the bow _ 123
methods 126Hunting
of 132Explanation plates
INTRODUCTION
is a lost art. civilized it survivesArchery nearly Among peoples
as a It is well as late as twoonly game. known, however, that^even
centuries the bow was a with the flintlockago vigorous competitor
in warfare. Franklin at the of the RevolutionBenjamin beginning
considered the of the Americanseriously possibility arming troops
with the as a and more effective than thelongbow, cheaper weapon
1
flintlock musket. even of American IndianThat the thearchery was,
asthe of as effectiveduring early periods occupation, substantially
in the historic of somethe of the is attested recordsmusketry period
2
of the Such ofarchery has, course, undergoneexplorers. aboriginal
bow. It is nowa decadence since the rifle has thesupplantedgreat
1 in of theSee letter from Franklin to MemoirsLee,Benjamin Major-General
late Charles second in command in the service of the United States of AmericaLee,
of America the revolution. . . 240.during London, 1792, p.
2 for narrative of Cabeza de Vaca the IndiansSee, theexample, concerning
of in Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabeza deFlorida, Buckingham Smith, Vaca,
New 30.York, 1871, p.
434000104 Publications in Am. Arcli. and Ethn. 13of Californiapniversity [Vol.
almost extinct. As a matter of we have little accuratefact, very
information as to how the Indians used their and still lessweapons,
as to how made them. The is an tothey present paper attempt
the facts the of one the Yahi orpresent concerning archery tribe,
Deer Creek Indians of north- central the mostCalifornia, southerly
3
division of the Yanan as in the of its laststock, represented person
who lived from 1911 to 1916 at the of Calisurvivor, Ishi, University
fornia. The will deal first with the methodspaper very interesting
of the Yahi for the manufacture of the ofimplements archery, and,
their ofsecond, style shooting.
It must be remembered that the of civilizedperformances archers,)
Avho with the bow as a far those of Itpractice sport, surpass savages.
is a curiojiSufact was to after thethafe-^rcjjery brought perfection only
how became obsolete as a serious It isweapon. interesting, therefore,
to the Yahi with that of the more skilful archerscompare "style"
who follow the rules of the modern game.
the native informant for the comes of aIshi, tribepresent paper,
famous for its The lived,-to a considerablefighting qualities. group
extent on wild and the bow was their and theirgame, glory delight.
We have no reason to believe that their skill or the of theirstrength
was inferior to that of the American Conweapons average savage.
the informant the be said :cerning himself, following might
Ishi 1overHiis e inloved else hisbow__ag_h nothing possession.
He knew what hea but had never shot one until aftergun was,
1911 when he entered civilization. The bow he had used ever since
boyhood.^JWhen he had no a bow andcaptured weapons, though
arrows were taken from his those who first discoveredmany lodge by
the where the remnant of his were Some of thesecamp people living.
arrows we later some the of the findersrecovered, through generosity
and some but his bow isby purchase, original missing.
What the writer knows of Ishi s is based threearchery upon years
association with him. In this hours were in makperiod many spent
in inbows and abouting arrows, talking shooting, target practice,
in in woods.and the fields and the 1913hunting trips During years
and 1914 there was for two extended in the mounopportunity trips
tains in his Dr. J. V. Cooke and the writer tookpresentcompany.
the of in 1912 under Ishi s at firstup practice archery guidance,
to the Indian s own later we followed theaccording methods, though
At first Ishi was our master in but atEnglish style. marksmanship,
3 Edward has Yana in-volume 9 of the series.Sapir published Myftis- presentYahi 10oPope: Archery1918]
to outdo him andof a few months we were ablethe end at_target_wprk,
inThis jdoes notto anyequaTTiis" performances ^ame.in_shootin^
r
to the actualon our but does point clearlyway iniply gFeatef"sRriI part,
of the "civilized" methods.
superiority
it mustIn of the of manufacture used by Ishi,speaking techniques
in work. Thethat he soon civilized tools thisbe remembered adopted
the ofand file the obsidian blade and scraperjackknife supplanted
sandstone. He returned to his whenways requestedonly primitive
show the heto processes formerly performed.
HisHe was a most and finished workman. dexteritypainstaking
were to watch. No better ofand ingenuity delightful specimens
and bows are contained in the Museum of thearrowheads, shafts,
than those made him. better ones were neverProbablyUniversity by
His for form and wasmade anywhere. eye symmetry perfect.
A that from theA bow has the :following back, part awayparts
full a handle or handarcher a the concave when drawnside, ;; belly,
the thata near the center for holding weapon; limbs,grip, portion
These extremitiesbetween the handle and the extremities. usuallypart
inhave or some contrivance to maintain the string position,notches,
thecalled nocks. The of a bow and attaching stringprocess bending
on theto ends is called it. The amount ofthe pull string,bracing
itto draw an arrow a distance before dischargingnecessary proper
orascertained in means of a scalefrom the be bybow, may pounds
This is called the of the bow.balance. "weight"
THE BOW
bows of woods whileIshi called the bow man i. He made many
his threeunder but an into country yearsobservation, upon expedition
from which the best bows wereafter his he showed us the treecapture
stave from one ofmade. It was the mountain He made ajuniper.
these trees on the it was later ruined.spot, though
He described another tree from which his tribe made bows, appar
down the onethe incense cedar. he wassaid, chopped byently This,
with ofman in his tribe who owned an iron andaxe, split wedges
for his bowdeer horn into staves. To obtain the woodproper-sized
he broke a limb from the which seems to have been the customtree,
before the of axes.days106 Publications in Am. Arcli. and Ethn. 13University of California [Vol.
The Indian with the axe seems to have been the bow maker of the
He also owned a and was known asvicinity. knife,long Chunoydki,
that or Hat Creek Indian. Of his with theis, Atsugewi prowess bow,
Ishi told us tales.many
\vood Ishi called i. Yew wood he did not seem toJuniper nogu
have he knew of it and said that other tribes used it.used, though
rHis name for this was i. He knew that its leaves werehulogos
to eat.poisonous
While with us he used tanbark red cedareucalyptus, oak, (tiyu-n i),
and for his bows. All of these were of thehickory, ash, juniper, yew
same and and all were withbacked sinew.general shape size, Yew,
of the best His standard of measurementcourse, produced weapon.
for a bow was hold staveto a across his chest withgood diagonally
one end in his hand at the and the left arm extendedright hip, straight
out at an of 45 from the horizontal. The distanceangle degrees
between these was the for a bow. This measuredpoints proper length
in his own case four feet and two inches. The wddth of the bow at the
middle of each limb was three or four to whether afingers, according
bow or a war bow was wanted.light hunting powerful
rThe of his bow was a flat with limbs wider atshape short, stave,
their center than at the sometimes recurved at their outerhandle,
to small short nocks theat ends.extremity, tapering gracefully
rHis w after or blocked out from aood, being split partially limb,
was laid in horizontal in Herea a sheltered itposition warm, place.
seasoned. But as to what time of to cut or how to seasonyear it, long
Ishi seemed to have no setit, opinions.
The of the bow was that of with flintprocess shaping scraping
or obsidian. With infinite and care he reduced the wood topatience
the dimensions. In the work he used sandstone. Theproper finishing
measurements of two of his best bows are as follows :
Number 1-19590. 44 inches. atLength, Diameters, handle, % by 1^ inches;
at at inches. Pulls 40midlimb, %c, by 1% inches; nock, ^6 by % pounds.
1Bow in of author. Shown in use in 31. 54 inches.Length, /possession plate
at at at% % 14 i/2Diameters, handle, by 1%; midlimb, by 1%; nock, by
Pulls 45 pounds.
He to have had no as the for theseemed great respect, English do,
he thisAvhite wood of or cedar. at the backsap yew Although placed
of his he did not hesitate to cut its to attain abow, through grain
and as often he would most of itsymmetrical form, just scrape away,
a thin stratum of white at each At the handle aleaving only edge.
cross section of the bow was while a section the mid-limboval, through
was much flatter.