Sheep Eater Shoshone
This is a post for those interested in Native American archery.
I recently visited Wyoming state of the USA and was alerted to the county museum in Dubois (DM) because of information about Native American artifacts of the Sheep eater Shoshone.
The drainage of the Wind river was under the control of the Shoshones in historic times from where they lived and hunted bison. But a band of these same people retreated to the highest mountain locations where they drove mountain Big Horn sheep into corrals where they were killed for their primary food source.
Most likely because of a severe lack of good bow wood, these people began in some ancient time making their bows from these curly sheep horns. We have discussed this form previously. Today numerous museums have sheep horn bows in their collections from other tribes.
Here is pictured an actual lodge of these people disassembled in the mountains and re-erected exactly as it had been.
I recently visited Wyoming state of the USA and was alerted to the county museum in Dubois (DM) because of information about Native American artifacts of the Sheep eater Shoshone.
The drainage of the Wind river was under the control of the Shoshones in historic times from where they lived and hunted bison. But a band of these same people retreated to the highest mountain locations where they drove mountain Big Horn sheep into corrals where they were killed for their primary food source.
Most likely because of a severe lack of good bow wood, these people began in some ancient time making their bows from these curly sheep horns. We have discussed this form previously. Today numerous museums have sheep horn bows in their collections from other tribes.
Here is pictured an actual lodge of these people disassembled in the mountains and re-erected exactly as it had been.
The Dubois museum has a display on how these bows may be reproduced, compliments of local artist, Tom Lucas. As his art gallery is in town, I went to meet him. Although Tom is an accomplished painter and craftsman he is not computer saavy and does not know about the work of other such craftsmen except from published literature (probably why he can produce so much work).
He is just finishing up on his 39th sheephorn bow, the only one on hand and it is already sold before it was begun.
He is just finishing up on his 39th sheephorn bow, the only one on hand and it is already sold before it was begun.
Here is the museum display which alerted me to the bowyer. Two and a half bows.
We talked for some time as Tom is a very agreeable and generous person. He has only handled two authentic old bows. Each of his is designed around that specific pair of horns, as the material is difficult and expensive to procure. His most recent pieces have long tapered scarf joints joining the limbs in the grip but each tapered scarf has a notch against which each end rests. This joint is covered with a horn or antler riser, glued along with the scarf and bound with sinew lashings. The scarf is also roughened with cross grain scratchings. The entire back is then sinewed several times with backstrap. He does not like leg sinew and makes his own glue.
Some few spectacular old bows were made entirely from one horn slat with no splice.
Tom's bows are all shooters, not wall hangers. Each one is different than the others. His latest is about 32 inches and will draw over #50 at 20" though the arrows are longer. The tips are the natural ends of the horns and the shape goes from wide and thin to very narrow and deep so, despite the look, the ends are not heavy.
Public television has documented him on numerous occasions and the high price commanded by one of these little bows is truly astounding. Here it is shown with mountain lion quiver and wild rose arrows with stone points, all Lucas made.
Some few spectacular old bows were made entirely from one horn slat with no splice.
Tom's bows are all shooters, not wall hangers. Each one is different than the others. His latest is about 32 inches and will draw over #50 at 20" though the arrows are longer. The tips are the natural ends of the horns and the shape goes from wide and thin to very narrow and deep so, despite the look, the ends are not heavy.
Public television has documented him on numerous occasions and the high price commanded by one of these little bows is truly astounding. Here it is shown with mountain lion quiver and wild rose arrows with stone points, all Lucas made.
Jack,
Nice pictures and infos.Tom is really brilliant. I always wondered how he manages with mountain sheep horn strips which go back to its previous position after cooling (i had bad experiences with sheep horn).
I've read in ''American Indian archery'' that guy solved this problem using Osage orange wooden core where he glued horn plates.
But Tom's bows are made only of mountain sheep horn and sinew. Perhaps, hot springs used for softening the horn are answer;-))))).
As i know not only Shoshones but also Crow,Ute and Nez Perce used mountain sheep hornbows.
Also, did Shoshones used some stone chisels to split entire horn? i drilled the holes and used chisel because it is ''like hell'' with handsaw, and i made mistake...
Best regards,
Nice pictures and infos.Tom is really brilliant. I always wondered how he manages with mountain sheep horn strips which go back to its previous position after cooling (i had bad experiences with sheep horn).
I've read in ''American Indian archery'' that guy solved this problem using Osage orange wooden core where he glued horn plates.
But Tom's bows are made only of mountain sheep horn and sinew. Perhaps, hot springs used for softening the horn are answer;-))))).
As i know not only Shoshones but also Crow,Ute and Nez Perce used mountain sheep hornbows.
Also, did Shoshones used some stone chisels to split entire horn? i drilled the holes and used chisel because it is ''like hell'' with handsaw, and i made mistake...
Best regards,
Amazing,!
this is the 1st time i ever heard of a bow made entirely of horn.
this is the 1st time i ever heard of a bow made entirely of horn.
Zoran; I asked Tom about how the Indians did the work and he says he has no idea, but I do not feel like the horn can be split. He uses a bandsaw with all the usual precautions discussed here on ATARN before. He also mentioned hot springs but he has also used direct heat from a gas stove besides boiling water. His bows are restrained on a form during the entire sinewing and curing process and claims that none are perfectly balanced and may need later attention.
Professor Bill Holmes has stated by personal examination that Plains Indian hornbows and antler bows lack a wood core.
Zarasp; Horn and sinew.
Professor Bill Holmes has stated by personal examination that Plains Indian hornbows and antler bows lack a wood core.
Zarasp; Horn and sinew.
Jack,
Perhaps Shoshones started to use hornbows after they get iron tools.
If it is not possible to cut the horn by the stone tools then it is more than likely that they used mountain sheep horn after Whites appeared.
My opinion is that skilled bowmaker of that time could even cut the horn into the strips by the stone tools after boiling it in hot springs water for a long time when horn becomes soft and then easier for cutting.
Perhaps Shoshones started to use hornbows after they get iron tools.
If it is not possible to cut the horn by the stone tools then it is more than likely that they used mountain sheep horn after Whites appeared.
My opinion is that skilled bowmaker of that time could even cut the horn into the strips by the stone tools after boiling it in hot springs water for a long time when horn becomes soft and then easier for cutting.
Zoran; What you say is possible. When you said split horn, I was taking your meaning as to make a crack, like splitting wood with wedges.
Of course it is possible to groove and worry a slat off of a horn with stone tools. Whether or not this was done in prehistoric times, I have no information. I think it was Bill Holmes who burnt at the horn and chopped off excess to get to the desired area. This is a prehistoric technique used for other purposes.
I have a text where many ancient Juniper trees have been found that have bow staves removed from living trees done with stone tools.
Of course it is possible to groove and worry a slat off of a horn with stone tools. Whether or not this was done in prehistoric times, I have no information. I think it was Bill Holmes who burnt at the horn and chopped off excess to get to the desired area. This is a prehistoric technique used for other purposes.
I have a text where many ancient Juniper trees have been found that have bow staves removed from living trees done with stone tools.
Jack,yes, i did mean to cut;-) but my english...:-)
Do you think about using the chisel and holes drilled along the line where sheep horn need to be cut? I think it is safer technique than handsaw,sure if horn is not softened by boiling (i avoid any power tool and anything out of ancient technique). But in this case horn need to be heated again after cooling for continuing the operation of cutting.It takes a time.
Do you think about using the chisel and holes drilled along the line where sheep horn need to be cut? I think it is safer technique than handsaw,sure if horn is not softened by boiling (i avoid any power tool and anything out of ancient technique). But in this case horn need to be heated again after cooling for continuing the operation of cutting.It takes a time.
Zoran: I have no information on how the ancient Shoshones did it. I have used a band saw but am pretty sure they did not use this technique. Whatever works, works.
A picture of the last known Sheep Eater.
A picture of the last known Sheep Eater.
WOW!! Great topic I just finished reading "Mountain Spirit" which is a book about the Sheepeaters. Very interesting people.
Fantastic information Jack, thank you very much for sharing. This topic has always interested me as I enjoy the Native American bows very much. I hope to make a functioning sheep horn bow at some point.
Thanks again.
Lee
Thanks again.
Lee
Dr Grayson used to drill a series of closely spaced hole and use a chisel to split the horn between them. Bow drills are common to stone age technologies so perhaps this group had them. In his Museum, he had a piece of partially worked caribou antler where the outline of the lath had been scraped into the antler with a stone point. This is a slow, but sure, way of doing the job. It would work faster on horn.
Agreed, it couldn't have been fast or easy work but then most things worth doing by the Native Americans took time. I think getting my hands on real Bighorn Sheep horns will probably be the hardest part of making a bow like those.
Have you seen the video Mr. Lucas did called: The Sheep Eaters: Archers of the Yellowstone? I am very tempted to purchase it to see how much detail he goes into on the subject.
Lee
Have you seen the video Mr. Lucas did called: The Sheep Eaters: Archers of the Yellowstone? I am very tempted to purchase it to see how much detail he goes into on the subject.
Lee
Bede; With all respect to Dr. Grayson, I am not aware of any NA crafting which includes drilling lines of holes and chopping out the space in between. Possibly Bert did not have a band saw or did not trust that technique.
There is a great distance between saying it could have been done, and showing it was done. If there is any indication that this technique was used please post it. Otherwise please let this misconception die a natural death.
My epilogue on the Shoshone is a story from the Thermopolis museum written well after the facts.
There is a place not far from Dubois called Crow Heart. This is how the place got its name.
In the 1860s the Shoshone had control of the Wind River valley under their chief Washakie. In that summer a large party of Crow Indians under chief Big Robber came to hunt on Shoshone hunting grounds. Shoshone scouts reported the incursion to Washakie who sent a messenger to the Crows that they should move east over the mountains. The messenger's wife went along to show that the meeting was intended to be peaceful. Big Robber killed the messenger and sent the wife back with the message that the Crows would hunt wherever they wanted.
Washakie sent to his allies, the Bannocks, for re-enforcements and moved to engage the Crows, who had come ready with many of their finest and bravest warriors. A battle ensued which lasted five days. Many on both sides were killed and wounded without any resolution. At that Washakie sent word that the two chiefs should do battle alone with the winner taking control of the area.
The respective armies kept a great distance to ensure no interference and Big Robber came out on his white stallion while Washakie rode the great bay given to him by chief Joseph of the Nez Pierce. Each carried a long lance and shield of the thick neck skin of a bison bull. The dust was thick from the battle when a gasp went out as Washakie's stallion was seen to go to his knees. But he rose to continue the fight and after some time Washakie emerged to rejoin his fellows carrying the heart of the Crow chief on the tip of his lance. He took it because of the bravery of his opponent. Washakie did not scalp or mutilate Big Robber, as was his right, and did not allow the other Shoshones to do so.
The Crows took their fallen and withdrew to over the mountain.
What is not part of the story is this; Almost surely, a celebration would have taken place in the Shoshone village in which the Crow heart would have been prepared and shared by all the combatants so as to capture the bravery of the fallen chief. And the scalping and mutilation did not occur so to aswage the grief of the Crows.
Chief Washakie lived to be almost 100 years old.
There is a great distance between saying it could have been done, and showing it was done. If there is any indication that this technique was used please post it. Otherwise please let this misconception die a natural death.
My epilogue on the Shoshone is a story from the Thermopolis museum written well after the facts.
There is a place not far from Dubois called Crow Heart. This is how the place got its name.
In the 1860s the Shoshone had control of the Wind River valley under their chief Washakie. In that summer a large party of Crow Indians under chief Big Robber came to hunt on Shoshone hunting grounds. Shoshone scouts reported the incursion to Washakie who sent a messenger to the Crows that they should move east over the mountains. The messenger's wife went along to show that the meeting was intended to be peaceful. Big Robber killed the messenger and sent the wife back with the message that the Crows would hunt wherever they wanted.
Washakie sent to his allies, the Bannocks, for re-enforcements and moved to engage the Crows, who had come ready with many of their finest and bravest warriors. A battle ensued which lasted five days. Many on both sides were killed and wounded without any resolution. At that Washakie sent word that the two chiefs should do battle alone with the winner taking control of the area.
The respective armies kept a great distance to ensure no interference and Big Robber came out on his white stallion while Washakie rode the great bay given to him by chief Joseph of the Nez Pierce. Each carried a long lance and shield of the thick neck skin of a bison bull. The dust was thick from the battle when a gasp went out as Washakie's stallion was seen to go to his knees. But he rose to continue the fight and after some time Washakie emerged to rejoin his fellows carrying the heart of the Crow chief on the tip of his lance. He took it because of the bravery of his opponent. Washakie did not scalp or mutilate Big Robber, as was his right, and did not allow the other Shoshones to do so.
The Crows took their fallen and withdrew to over the mountain.
What is not part of the story is this; Almost surely, a celebration would have taken place in the Shoshone village in which the Crow heart would have been prepared and shared by all the combatants so as to capture the bravery of the fallen chief. And the scalping and mutilation did not occur so to aswage the grief of the Crows.
Chief Washakie lived to be almost 100 years old.
Jack,
Dr Grayson did have access to a bandsaw, but he found the blade would wander in the horn and was not possible to control precisely. This was the reason that he moved onto other methods.
Regarding the drilling of holes to cut difficult materials, this is an ancient technique that developed in the stone ages on many continents. It was a standard method for cutting slots in jade and other hard materials. I believe the is evidence of it use in Siberia and Mexico. I was suggesting that it could be a technique used by these particular people and I believe like you it should be supplemented by proof, particularly a partially worked horn would be a good example. My experience with sheep horn is that it much harder to work than buffalo horn and any method that gave more precision in the cut would be worthwhile.
If I were to pick a method that I thought most likely, it would be scraping a groove with a stone point, but that is subject to the idea that the bows were made in the pre-contact period.
As to Grayson's knowledge of Native American archery, he had many friends among many nations over a long period of time. He talked with them, watched them make bows and arrows, purchased some for his collection and duplicated them using the original techniques. I have seen experienced Native Americans praise his bows to his face only to find that he was taught by their grandfathers.
Dr Grayson did have access to a bandsaw, but he found the blade would wander in the horn and was not possible to control precisely. This was the reason that he moved onto other methods.
Regarding the drilling of holes to cut difficult materials, this is an ancient technique that developed in the stone ages on many continents. It was a standard method for cutting slots in jade and other hard materials. I believe the is evidence of it use in Siberia and Mexico. I was suggesting that it could be a technique used by these particular people and I believe like you it should be supplemented by proof, particularly a partially worked horn would be a good example. My experience with sheep horn is that it much harder to work than buffalo horn and any method that gave more precision in the cut would be worthwhile.
If I were to pick a method that I thought most likely, it would be scraping a groove with a stone point, but that is subject to the idea that the bows were made in the pre-contact period.
As to Grayson's knowledge of Native American archery, he had many friends among many nations over a long period of time. He talked with them, watched them make bows and arrows, purchased some for his collection and duplicated them using the original techniques. I have seen experienced Native Americans praise his bows to his face only to find that he was taught by their grandfathers.
Just received the Sheepeaters DVD that Tom Lucas was in showing how he builds those Bighorn Sheep horn bows. His method of boiling (or setting in a geothermal spring) looks fairly simple and effective. It only took a sharp flake of obsidian to carve a groove in that horn...time consuming, sure but pretty simple.
I really enjoyed the DVD and now am on the hunt for the ever elusive set of Bighorn Sheep horns.
I really enjoyed the DVD and now am on the hunt for the ever elusive set of Bighorn Sheep horns.
Let me repeat the technique for bandsawing sheep and other horns. We are not trying to take a precise slab off the horn, ready to use. far from it. Another useful technique of the bandsaw is to waste large areas of unwanted material. What others are doing laboriously with a drill can be done effortlessly with a bandsaw in a mere fraction of the time.
Here is an exercise in sawing in a spiral. Start with a large dowel or similar object like a section of closet pole. The trick of sawing any curved object on this saw is to ANTICIPATE THE CURVE and set up the cut. Secondly, when a curve is not cutting properly STOP IMMEDIATELY, BACK UP AND PROCEED SETTING UP THE ANTICIPATED CUT. The just cut kerf will actually facilitate restarting.
Now cut the dowel into a twist using this advice. It does in fact work but takes greater attention. The blade can be coated with candle paraffin for lubrication. But a wide blade is necessary to maintain control.
When confidence is gained, a horn can be cut with twist and spiral.
Point 2. You cannot see the underside of the cut so you must compensate by cutting off all possible useful material, maybe one third of the mass.
Point 3. Your finished slat IS NOT PARALLEL to the natural flat on the outer curve of the horn but is some degrees off. This adds confusion at first.
Now let us turn to the ancients using the drill technique. This would require many stone drill points, mounted on wood shafts, and would require cutting out the space between the holes. Just try drilling a horn with a flat drill bit to understand how the holes cannot touch lest the bit become locked into the previous hole. If the ancientd did make these bows at all.
It is not accidental that I went to this museum. I visited about 20 museums which listed Native American artifacts, which I photographed. You may imagine how many I have visited in a lifetime. What I am saying is that Indians drilled holes into just about any object, I have never seen an object cut apart with a drill. Never, not at all. Any reference to this being an authentic technique is absolute supposition. I will still entertain looking at such an object but till that time, this is not a horn bow making technique.
What would be more likely is the charring with fire and scraping off of the excess. This is a time honored technique for wood working. Grooving and snapping is also seen. And if this is only a historic technique, using a saw is a possibility, maybe a hand made saw from some other iron tool.
Tom Lucas uses a bandsaw, I use a bandsaw and I have heard Bill Holms say a bandsaw will not work. How this got to the ancients using a bow drill is quite amazing. Practice with domestic sheep or Mouflon horns first.
Sorry for the long rant. Jack
Here is an exercise in sawing in a spiral. Start with a large dowel or similar object like a section of closet pole. The trick of sawing any curved object on this saw is to ANTICIPATE THE CURVE and set up the cut. Secondly, when a curve is not cutting properly STOP IMMEDIATELY, BACK UP AND PROCEED SETTING UP THE ANTICIPATED CUT. The just cut kerf will actually facilitate restarting.
Now cut the dowel into a twist using this advice. It does in fact work but takes greater attention. The blade can be coated with candle paraffin for lubrication. But a wide blade is necessary to maintain control.
When confidence is gained, a horn can be cut with twist and spiral.
Point 2. You cannot see the underside of the cut so you must compensate by cutting off all possible useful material, maybe one third of the mass.
Point 3. Your finished slat IS NOT PARALLEL to the natural flat on the outer curve of the horn but is some degrees off. This adds confusion at first.
Now let us turn to the ancients using the drill technique. This would require many stone drill points, mounted on wood shafts, and would require cutting out the space between the holes. Just try drilling a horn with a flat drill bit to understand how the holes cannot touch lest the bit become locked into the previous hole. If the ancientd did make these bows at all.
It is not accidental that I went to this museum. I visited about 20 museums which listed Native American artifacts, which I photographed. You may imagine how many I have visited in a lifetime. What I am saying is that Indians drilled holes into just about any object, I have never seen an object cut apart with a drill. Never, not at all. Any reference to this being an authentic technique is absolute supposition. I will still entertain looking at such an object but till that time, this is not a horn bow making technique.
What would be more likely is the charring with fire and scraping off of the excess. This is a time honored technique for wood working. Grooving and snapping is also seen. And if this is only a historic technique, using a saw is a possibility, maybe a hand made saw from some other iron tool.
Tom Lucas uses a bandsaw, I use a bandsaw and I have heard Bill Holms say a bandsaw will not work. How this got to the ancients using a bow drill is quite amazing. Practice with domestic sheep or Mouflon horns first.
Sorry for the long rant. Jack