Lakota Sioux Culture Short Wood Flat Bow

Description

Attributed to the Lakota Sioux Culture.
Description
The item is a Bow made of wood with an indented finial on each end of the bow so that the sinew, cord, rawhide or gut could be attached so as not to become disengaged. The Wood Bow is referred to as a Flatbow which is a non-recurved, flat with relative limbs that are approximately rectangular in cross-section. Because the limbs are relatively wide, Flatbows will usually be narrow and become deeper at the handle. A Flatbow can be just as long as a longbow, but also can be very short. Your Bow is a short Flatbow - typical lengths for Flatbows would be 68 - 70 inches. Flatbows were used by Native American tribes such as the Hupa, Karok, and Wampanoag, as well as the Plains Indian tribes, and Pre-historic gunpowder societies for hunting and warfare, because, unlike longbows, good flatbows can be made from a wide variety of timbers. Ash, Walnut, Osage Orange, Cedar, Juniper, Oak, Birch, Chokecherry, Serviceberry, and Mulberry woods were used. The Lakota and the Dakota also used coil from the neck of Snapping Turtles. I believe that the flatware Bow is shorter in design because it was used while mounted on horseback for hunting (Buffalo). The Bow is gently curved which is an indicator of Lakota flatbows - some flatbows are radically curved - your flatbow is graceful, not sharp - and because of this, the flatbow has survived. - Ash was the preferred wood.
Date
Circa Very Early 20th Century.
Length
39 inches
Extra Notes
Most Native American bows were made of wood. The most powerful wooden bows were backed with sinew (animal tendons) to make the bow springier. North American Plains Indians, once the horse was introduced there, also developed short, laminated bows for use in war and hunting from horseback. There are some growth rings on your flatbow and this shows that the wood was cut from large, old growth trees. The way the wood was cured, both air-dried and smoked, gave it further strength and resilience.