Native American Arrows

[aiontay]

A couple of points (no pun intended). First while there might have been tribal styles, Native Americans were a pretty cosmopolitan bunch and there was plenty of interaction/trade/exchange between tribes. Adam Walker, one of the best Chickasaw bow/ballstick makers of the late 20th century sold most of his bows and ballsticks to traditional Creek and Seminoles, not Chickasaws. Also, as they say, any idiot can make a bow but arrows are a whole other matter. I suspect a Kiowa back in the 1850's would likely buy arrows from say a Cheyenne maker rather than from a Kiowa, or Comanche if the maker made the best arrows and wasn't too expensive. So while the arrow may have been Cheyenne, I'm not sure the shooter necessarily had to be.

Second, as for finding proper draw length, most traditional shooting I've seen is more instinctive point, where you basically "punch" at the target rather than pulling back on the string. Usually the arrow notch is held in the fingers in a pinch grip rather than the fingers on the string. When the bow is punched out the arrow gets pulled out of the fingers more than it is released, so there really isn't an anchor point you pull back to. If you'll notice on several of the arrows the notches flair out our are slightly bulbous. That is to facilitate a pinch grip on the arrow, rather than pulling back on the string.