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How to Make An Authentic Native-American Arrow

SAFETY FIRST: Ask an adult to help with tools you haven't used before.

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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!

— Gordon Soaring Hawk

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WHAT YOU’LL NEED

  • Adult help and/or supervision
  • Quarter-inch or 5/16-inch dowels
  • Bone, metal or slate, ground to shape, for arrowheads
  • Stout thread or cordage to attach feathers and arrowheads to the shaft
  • Hot glue, wood glue or ferrule cement
  • Wing feathers from a craft store
  • Water- or oil-based paint

WHAT YOU’LL DO

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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.

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STEP 2: Once the shaft is dry, scrape off the bark until the wood is smooth.

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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.

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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.

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STEP 5: Using the sharp rock, gouge a notch on either side of the wide end of the arrowhead for holding the cordage.

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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.)

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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.

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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.

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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!


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58 Comments on How to Make An Authentic Native-American Arrow

  1. awesomely cool amazing

  2. the great bambine // January 4, 2020 at 5:16 pm // Reply

    What kind of arrow heads should i use.

  3. do you know how to make a bow and arrow

  4. so cool

  5. Nothing was said about how to straighten the shaft or even what diameter to make the shaft from. This is a very “dumbed down” article compared to Ben Hunt’s material. Look him up if you don’t know him.

  6. very cool

    • Huia Maori Girl // February 25, 2020 at 9:04 am // Reply

      Thank you for such a wonderful and simple journey to navigate in making this bow. Very easy to follow instructions … thank you for taking the time to teach this

  7. HOW TO MAKE A BOW

  8. bo kcritic // March 8, 2017 at 10:38 am // Reply

    i like the instructions.

  9. are you serious about the PVC pipe to make a bow with ? Kinda defeats the purpose. I thought that people interested in this sort of thing LIKED the idea of making stuff that is historically accurate and close to nature…. ?? just sayin ‘ ………

  10. I make these and mount them on a plaque for my Webelos who earn the Arrow of Light award.

  11. I need to make some of these. 🙂

  12. Use deer, elk antler, to nap or chip you flint if flint available,use antler to chip out pieces slowly till arrowhead is formed, use unworked flint, after making arrowhead put in fire, to harden flint, let cool before use,

    • MsPretty704 // March 2, 2017 at 6:10 pm // Reply

      I always find sticks in my son’s room he collects them I guess. I’m going to do this project with him. I know he will love to put those sticks on diaplay.

  13. cool! I will try it out it was useful for a school report.

  14. The arrow it worked out great for my son he just got his hunting licence.

  15. It really works

  16. awesomeness:o // March 28, 2014 at 7:50 pm // Reply

    i like weapons too I find arrows down at my creek that real Indians had made cause my dads great great grandmother was an Indian who lived there.

  17. why, comatose, why??? // March 19, 2014 at 12:26 pm // Reply

    This looks awesome! totally gonna get the metarials from the woods (branch, rocks, feathers)… but i have a question:

    what type of feathers should i use? large owl feathers? or smaller, goldfinch feathers? maybe robin feathers? or hawk feathers? chicken feathers? …

    any help would be appreaceted! Thanks!

  18. awesome6150 // January 6, 2014 at 2:31 pm // Reply

    this could be very useful because I am running out of arrows

  19. To make a bow use piece of white pvc pipe. It helps if you heat it up over a fire and flatten it

  20. This looks fun!

  21. This is cool i made it and it works

  22. I have not tried it yet but I think it will be cool

  23. I haven’t tried it yet but I think this will do for my bow and arrow project for school. ill respond back when i get my results

  24. awsome but too much stuff

  25. silus Robertson // August 28, 2013 at 8:07 pm // Reply

    This should work pretty good with my long bow.

  26. The mockingjay // August 26, 2013 at 12:51 am // Reply

    I have a bow and made these arrows. I tried them out and they work quite well.

  27. ive made one without the tip and useing magnolia leaves as the flechings

  28. Ok that’s so cool tomorrow I’m going to the river bank to look for flint rock to carve arrow heads

  29. Good tutorial. Thanks.

  30. Awesome! I’ll try it; it seems better made than mine!

  31. thanks Iv got a quiver so i need a bow and arrow i gonna make the bow later and the arrows

  32. Thanks for the instructions, i’ve made arrows but these seem better than mine. also it will help for target practice!

  33. i try that

  34. venisin lover1224 // December 30, 2012 at 5:09 pm // Reply

    i got a hand crafted bow made from a cherokee nativve american will these arrows work?

  35. Theuniverseman // December 14, 2012 at 5:49 pm // Reply

    Great Instructions! I have obsidian arrowheads so i’m going to make two arrows for my cousins using a dowel as the shaft.

  36. but how do you make a bow

  37. nice arrows!

  38. this will help me kill deer thanks for the tutorial

  39. i create wepons most are spears and javlins but im also intrestid in arrows i realy want to do this and eddit this

  40. I am going to make a native American weapon for social studies. Do you recommend this?

      • It is inadvisable to bring any form of weapon (replicas, artifacts, or otherwise) to a school, as you will likely be expelled, unless the school’s administration staff (dean, principal, etc.) give you clear permission.

  41. Ya neat I love weapons pretty cool

  42. i used this for my bow, it flies good

  43. Im 10 and i have already made a bow. it uses ruber bands and string and works well. this arrow helps but im making a blunt head.slso my uncls makeing me a crossbow.(shoots these arrows

    • You might need to modify these if you want to shoot them from a crossbow as crossbows cannot shoot arrows. They shoot bolts, which are shorter than arrows and have a different fletching method.

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