Click here for a PDF version of these instructions.
I make arrows the way my Iroquois ancestors did long ago. You can, too.
In our modern world, the hard part is getting the material, but you can use some alternatives that I’ve suggested.
Just remember: These arrows might look crude, but they’re not toys. Use them for target practice only, under the supervision of an adult, or display them in your room. Be careful!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
STEP 1: Shafts should be about as thick as your little finger and a couple of inches longer than the distance from your armpit to your fingertips. Make sure they’re straight as an arrow! After you gather them (get permission before cutting any growing thing), bundle them in groups of five and let dry for a few days. Dowels can be used as a substitute; they are available at lumber and building-supply stores.
STEP 2: Once the shaft is dry, scrape off the bark until the wood is smooth.]
STEP 3: Cut a notch (about as deep as the diameter of the shaft) for the bowstring by scraping one end with a sharp stone. To get a sharp stone, find a piece of quartzite cobble (river stone) and break it in half with another rock. At the end of the shaft that receives the arrowhead, scrape out a notch that is 3/8 – to 5/8-inch deep. You can also use a knife, small saw or file.
STEP 4: Grind an arrowhead into the right shape by scraping the material against a sidewalk until the arrowhead has a point and a sharp edge. It’s a simple but tedious process. For safer arrowheads, you can round off the point.
STEP 5: Using the sharp rock, gouge a notch on either side of the wide end of the arrowhead for holding the cordage.
STEP 6: Place the arrowhead in the notch, wrap it with a piece of cordage 8 to 10 inches long and glue it with hot glue. I use resin, which is made from boiling pitch (sap) from trees. Making resin can be dangerous because natural turpentines must be burned off. For cordage, I use sinew, which I prepare by pounding deer tendons between rocks, then separate them into long, stringy fibers. Before I can use the sinew, I must chew it. The enzymes in saliva help dissolve the collagen that holds the tissues together, and this is what makes it work like glue. (Soaking it in water won’t work.)
STEP 7: For fletching (arranging) the feathers on your arrows, make sure each vane comes from the same side of the wing. Split each feather down the middle of the spine (use scissors or pocketknife) and trim it to size.
STEP 8: Glue the feathers onto the shaft, making sure the top feather is aligned with the bowstring notch, then space the two others equally from the first. Wrap more thread around each end of the feathers and set the arrow aside to dry for a day.
STEP 9: Once the wrappings are dry, the arrow is ready for painting. I put animal fat in a tin can and melt it in the sun. Then I mix in some reddish earth and daub it on the arrow with a paintbrush. You can use watercolors or oil-based paint.
Now it’s time for target practice!
This is very good thanks
i’m making a crossbow so i think if i make the arrows shorter they will work.
This is great, I am using it in a school report on native Americans. I am not done yet but so far so good.
Where is the best place to get supplies
How do you make an authentic Native American bow and arrow
someone should post how to make a bow an arrow
i tried to make the arrow head by using rock but it is really hard
Awesome I’m workin on a bow to shoot these arrows
so there are three feather slices?????
I made a bow out of a mimosa sapling.. It works good with those arrows
how can i make an arrow head?
There are several ways to make Arrow Heads. You can use bone, hardwood, metal or you can flintknap. Flintknapping is the more difficult path. I have been at it for a year and I’m still learning.
THAT IS SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:);) <3
i no i have made 3 are ready and they work
I have a Banshee Bow and I made this arrow for it. Shot it at a styrophome target and the arrow shattered. I’m a girl by the way.
how do you make a banshee bow???
really helpful in making the arrow you want. thanks to all who has prepared this page.
I found this website while looking up the Seneca Indians bow to replicate one without the arrow head due to school policy. I of course am not a guy but found this very helpful. I didn’t follow these steps for my project but will be soon with my brother.
you can make a BOW by using a yew tree 1st you need to find a sapling and cut it down then u need carve it with a rasp until it actualy looks like a bow then boil some deer hide in pine pitch (or any white glue will do eg.woodglue)then get some seniw from your local buchers use the glue to stick it on leave it for a few weeks (or else the seniw might not set right and you might ruin your bow)p.s u dont have to use the glue and seniw part if you dont want to it just strenghtins it more
I used a dremel rotary tools sander accessory to make my arrowheads
Vary the size of your arrowheads,fish half inch long and quarter inch wide,birds slightly larger, and deer arrowheads 2 to 3 inches long and 1 to 2 inches wide.
my arrow shot a bird quite accuratte
kool
I made a bow with a pvc pipe about a yard long.The arrows really work. >() <- fish
Does it really work and is it worth doing?
yes
Guys,is it worth trying?