Native Cultural Arts: Comanche Bow and Arrows
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
- View Willie Pekah's newest arrow making video here, • Native Culture Arts: T...
Join Willie Pekah as he shares his wealth of knowledge about making Comanche bows and arrows.
Email Willie Pekah with questions, pekahwillie11@gmail.com
Rest in peace Elder Pekah. I would’ve loved a wood carving lesson from this man.
My sincere condolences to all his family and relatives. :-(
What a fantastic video. Willie Pekah is a fount of knowledge, I could listen to him talk about this stuff for hours. Thank you for preserving this knowledge for generations to come!
I’m an English Longbowman. My Bow is 78 inches long and the power goes from 55 lbw to 140 lbw for the big Warbow. I’ve made hundreds of arrows over the years mainly 28 inch to 32 inch. It’s great to see traditional skills being passed onto the next generations. We say the Brotherhood of the Bow.
It’s amazing the variety of bows there have been throughout the ages, in vastly different places all over the world. All quite different from each other yet all serving very well the purposes of those who used them. Really all it is is a big SPRING. So simple that ancient peoples all over the globe employed them for survival over thousands of years. It’s fascinating.
Facts
@@QuantumPyrite_88.9 maybe its a bow for young boys to practice with?
@@MusMasi I make 48 inch horse bows all the time, 60 pounds. not exactly a kids bow.
🎯🇨🇦🇺🇸🌐😄
As an archer, Dutch Traditional Hunting, I bow my head out of respect for this craftsman
@bastiat
Take lessons from someone who understand this discipline.
This discipline something not very known in the Archery world
I’m 80. As kids we all knew how to make bows and arrows, slingshots, kites, whistles and anything that we could whittles with the pocket knives we all carried. We learned it all from older brothers, fathers, uncles and each other. All that kid knowledge, passed down from one kid to the other for centuries has disappeared in my lifetime.
We watch this, not to learn how to make a bow and arrow, but because we’re fascinated by the last man doing what everyone in his world used to do as a matter of course.
🇨🇦🇺🇸perfect 😄
We'll always have tree branches. Hopefully pocket knives will remain legal. What's new is cardboard. With on-line shopping, everyone has more boxes than they know what to do with. RUclips is full of videos on what to make. Its the new plywood.
@@user-nd4le6ul5u i live in the U.S. next to a park. I can see the playground from my window. No children! A few times a week, maybe a child, always with an adult. Probably has custody for that day. A child outside alone would be reported to the police, perhaps taken from the parents. At the local school, during recess, 4(four) adults keeping their eye on maybe 30 kids playing outside, but on astroturf safety surfaces. After school, no children in sight. Sort of like 'Silent Spring' with no birds. No more hop-scotch diagrams chalked on the sidewalks; no more balls in your yard or through your window. They're all inside, doing what? Reading, playing the piano? I don't think so. They're staring at screens, becoming near-sighted, needing glasses, becoming zombies. None of this, of course, is strange or unsual to any one, exept those of us who remember when it wasn't so.
That's still a thing we just don't whittle stuff.
My older bro taught me all kinds of stuff I could make including slingshots.
But yeah lost knowledge and skills is always sad.
A bunch of kids still carry knives too just probably for different reasons lol
The Comanche numbered some 200,000 in 1750 before much contact with the west. By 1890, there were only 1500 left led by Quannah Parker when they finall went to the reservation in Oklahoma. They were warriors and only knew fighting and killing and stealing horses. They killed tens of thousands of white settlers indiscriminately just the joy of cutting the men head to toe with their war lances to spill their internal organs, then raped all the women down to the age of 7 or 8, while the men died screaming in their own viscera. Lastly they build a fire and roasted the women alive. Nice guys. Even the Sioux and Crow thought them uncivilized. The nearly wiped out the Apache and stoped the westward expansion of the United States for over 100 years. They refused to stop fighting white men, and if they were forced into a treaty immediately broke it. The could not farm, they could not ranch nor build permanent structures. The savagely fought anyone who wasn’t Comanche. In the end the US sent enough army troops to defeat them by fighting the way the Comanche did. In the end there were 1500 left, they were no given a reservation because they supported the confederates in the US civil war. Their living descendants see nothing wrong with the behavior of their ancestors, murdering white families, smashing infants against trees, etc.
I think you should know that there are many many people, people of your culture and people of others including myself that really appreciate you sharing this with us.
Wow.. I'm so glad this guy is out there. This is what the internet was made for. Forget all the arguing and politics. This man is preserving his heritage in beautiful fashion. My heart aches when I think of how many tribal arts have been lost. Thank you Willie for sharing this amazing skill with the world. I can't wait to teach my son when he's old enough!
Preserving heritage is political.
@@Viz-Jaqtaar It really isn't.
@Viz-Jaqtaar considering politics are the distribution of power, I'd agree that being able to self defend and NEVER CAPITULATE TO FEDS is heritage, politicized 🙃
This is (part of) my culture, I'm here to learn from those more learned than I.
We are the fulfillment of our ancestors wildest dreams.
@@Viz-JaqtaarPolitical?! Please elaborate if you even can 😂
Very interesting. I was always interested in how the Indians made the arrows. I saw a very informative video on how flint was shaped. I always wondered where they got the metal for arrow heads, and now I know. Thank you for this video.
From the stone age to the jet age in 80 years. It's great seeing a craftsman reviving the old ways .
This is some awesome oral history and nice craftsmanship! I'd love to see some of this knowledge shown in historical movies, to educate the laymen.
Wow. What an incredible treasure of skill and knowledge this man is. Fascinating insights of a fascinating culture. Keeping it alive. God bless him and 'his people'.
The bow making is fascinating but there isn’t much that is admirable about what the Comanche did to innocent civilians and others. Facts.
@@jadeddragon4254 whites did just as horrendous things, just sneakily in a systematic manner whereas warriors did it in a face to face manner
je réponds quel bois il utilise l'indien pour faire son arc et ses flèches ?
@@johnpages4627 Osage orange wood was used by comanches, kiowas and southern plains indian natives
@@nisurasamfitness115 je réponds vous me dites le bois d'oranger des osages et l'orangé je connais mais osages je ne connais pas qu'est que ça veut dire l osages !
Am I the only one to chuckle at the thought of the Comanche making arrow points out of settlers wagon wheels? Lol That’s some OG Trolling.
There might have been a little delay as they waited for the steel rim to cool!
Lovely to see Sir, we shouldn't lose our historical crafts & traditions, they should be passed on to younger people's, so that the skills don't die out.
Great video
✌🏻🇬🇧
I suppose a good idea would be to encourage more Elders/Craftsmen to use RUclips (and such) to post their knowledge, before it disappears!
That method doesn't work well for dying traditions and skills. The best thing to do is keep it well documented and explained in good detail, so that any one interested in the future can replicate the art. But definitely keep teaching to people who are willing to listen, I'm not discouraging that.
The knowledge you have and share is invaluable.
True that what you share is being lost, what would we do if we lost the old ways and were forced into the old ways of living, I'm sure most who don't appreciate the true value of native indiginous knowledge will be left wanting of this elders gift.thank you from another elder.
Willie, I loved your video. My name is Jim Grubb, I got my Uncle an old Scotts Irishman to help my make my first bow in 1956 when I was 7. My favorite arrows were dried hemp weeds or muliflora rose tipped with .38 cal brass.Still in love with the rose shafts. He made it out of green apple limbs cut at an angle & taped in the handle. I don't get to far from home, but, its great here in the S/W corner of Iowa. I live close to the Loes Hills where Chief Waubonsie is Laied to rest. I too love short Hedge Apple wood for bows. I found over the years I can get very close to deer & a short draw with no anchor Will hit anything I can look at. As long as you never make eye contact, if you do they will know whats in your mind just like the tall man does. Too much about me. I would truly like to see more bow making from your perspective. I like all kinds of bows, but, I'm in love at this time with Hoopa & Modock paddle bows.
You sir are a national treasure and a credit to the Comanche Nation. Thank you for your lecture on these wonderful bows and arrows.
Thanks for this interview! Really enjoyed it as I start to learn more about my heritage. I'm glad to see Comanche archery making a comeback. I live near Comanche Peak, and work at the Nuclear Plant that bears its name, so all of it is rather special to me.
Recently did a DNA test and found out I'm 60% Native American. This guy looks like my Dad and Grandpa.
Where are you from? Just curious because that's a significant amount 😂 if you're Hispanic that makes sense. Anyways keep learning the ways brother 🙏🏽🤙🏽
He's probably your cousin ahhh😂
Having made several osage bows and dogwood arrows, I can tell you that your first arrows are as difficult to make as the actual bow. Takes a bit to get right at first, but then becomes easy. People have a hard time believing that one can make as nice of arrow this way as you can with a factory shaft but it's entirely doable. Nice job sir!
Any bow will shoot an arrow, that is just physics. You only get consistency when the Fletcher knows how to make good arrows. Been doing this 20 years and I am still finding consistent arrows to be the harder part of the job!
@@johnhalverson2849 I believe Ishi was quoted saying something along the lines of any bow will do but arrows are what kill deer.
That's great. The Commanche were called the finest light cavalry in the world. Here in Indiana the hickory tree is plentiful for the bow. Thank you.
I love the way he explains the ballistics of trajectory of Comanche archery. A true warrior should know like how a modern soldier should know about battle sight zero in modern combat. The feel of a warrior's weapon to be accurate in battle or hunting is his skill to survive in all situations..
I see no replies but I'll ask the question anyway. What is the draw weight of the bows??
Looks less than 30 lbs .a child's bow
I really enjoyed this! Please thank Mr. Pekah for the time. Fascinating.
great video, Willie looks like my brother just a little heavier, My grandmother was Comanche she was born in 1910, and growing up she talked about her dad and grandfather, They were great stories, and learned a lot from her growing up she even taught my brothers and me how to cook. My uncle taught us how to shoot the bow as well. Thanks for this video brought back some great memories of my youth.
As someone that is of mixed race but raised in the traditional arts, I love seeing videos like this...and those still left like myself that try to keep the traditions alive...The only aspect of the video's details that got shared that was not an accurate description was the reason wood was collected often in Winter...sap does not go into the roots in the winter at all...that is a modern myth and the Elder's knew this as I was taught as a boy...In fact, with many species of trees, we see an actual increase in moisture content of the wood above ground in the wintertime. The difference between summer and winter is whether the sap is flowing (aka moving) or not moving...
Very interesting! It's so cool that this conversation exists.
I can't quote an authoriative source on this but my reason for getting wood for arrows and also for bows in the winter is that the plant isn't growing. The outermost yearring is fully developed and stronger.
@@andreasgoebel1269 This is very true, however, in winter or summer those outer layers of xylem and cambium are typically removed anyway...What is often missed (or misunderstood) by most modern Bowyers is this craft spans a global culture...and within biome types where "growing" or a "winter season" really is not nearly the same...dormant perhaps, but still active...Thus...winter to summer harvesting is not really an issue...or a...can and can't happenstance, as either season will work, and storage (best underwater) if done at should be a method that keeps the wood supple...Most (virtually all) traditional bows were worked "green" and then fire hardened...
@@JayCWhiteCloud I'd be interested to learn more about the fire hardening process you mentioned.
Fine craftsmanship, I've been looking at videos of different kinds of traditional archery from cultures all over the world, and it's amazing how to bow making can be similar but different at the same time.
This was GREAT! There’s so much info about the weapons the TX Rangers used between 1833-1890 but so little about what Comanche ppl used. I’d love love love to see something about their lances
Love it! Keep that knowledge alive, never to be lost to history!!
Never forget !! Listen to Johnny Cash .. to these talking leaves..This world would have been defferent
If all natives worked fight together .Still doing the same thing today.WORK TOGETHER
This bow reminds me of a sidearm which is for quick, short distances.
Shall not be infringed.
Whelp you immortalized your people's tradition. Thank you old timer!!
The Comanche were amazing people. They were the first to get horses after the Pueblo Revolt in 1680 released thousands (estimated 10,000) onto the southern plains. As a comparison, when Lewis and Clark crossed the northern plains in 1804-1806, the northern tribes had still not adopted the horse. In that 120 years the Comanche had not only adopted the horse but were selectively breeding them, something the northern tribes never really learned. The Comanche also created simple saddles of their own design. The Spanish and American saddles were too heavy and cumbersome for their liking, so they designed simple saddles of rawhide which is again something the northern tribes never used in any numbers. Saddles, and particularly stirrups, are monumentally important in hunting and warfare. You need to brace your feet/legs to shoot well in various directions from horseback, and without a saddle/stirrups your marksmanship suffers. This is why the Comanche were the Lords of the Plains.
I live near Comanche Peak, Granbury Texas,,,,, I find the Comanche culture enriching and fascinating. Actually across the street from the Brazos river. So the history of the Comanche runs deep in my area. Any other sources would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much sharing your video.
❤❤
That's badass my warrior brother love the history
Thank You for documenting this amazing art form of Americana. As a historian, I greatly appreciate the detail and articulation that you have provided.
ЛАЙК от ДУШИ вам Друзья!Очень интересно!
I would love to be your apprentice.
Great video. You touched on a few things that I figured out when I made and shot my very first bows. Draw and posture. As a kid it made perfect sense that style of shooting. Almost 50 years later I still shoot the same way.
what a true craftsman looks like, awesome that he keeping his peoples traditions alive
Great video on how you make the traditional arrows. I am glad you are sharing your knowledge with those who care to view. Was wondering if you also have a video on how you make your traditional bow? I have seen some others but none that bear the fine finish as yours.
Thank you for making this available!
What a great video. Thank you so much for keeping your culture alive!
Thank you for sharing your skills, your history and your heritage!
😊😊 thank you 🙏 my brother and your information on how to make them and the history of your elders teaching God bless you 🙏 and your family 🙏 stay safe and stay healthy ❤️ watching from Alaska wwoohoow take care .
JE M'EXPRIME c'est dommage que ce Comanche ne parle pas sa vraie langue et je le remercie pour nous faire voir sa façon de son peuple de faire un arc et des flèches c est un français qui vous le dit en vous remerciant monsieur le comanche !
Perhaps the greatest horse culture in history. About 10 thousand Comanche warriors controlled the Comancheria 250,000 square miles for most of the 18th and 19th centuries. Anyone who wants to fight me all the time…………..
Hello, I am from Buenos Aires, Argentina, I make my own bows from different materials, and I would like to know what wood you use to build your bows and arrows. I really liked the video and I thank you for uploading it, thank you very much.
This was really interesting! I'm a beginning bowyer so I love stuff like this!
Some tribes had good relations with certain traders and would trade for metal to make arrowheads from, while others used metal they took in raids or found, lost or discarded by settlers, including thin pots like copper or steel that had been worn through and tossed out, which included things like teapots. The native people were very good at repressing things left behind by settlers. That is probably because they were used to a way of life where you used every part of an animal, a plant or anything else. Something people need to start doing again that was practiced around the world by practically all "primitive" peoples.
Great video, loved it! What is the draw weight?? I realize it isn't drawn 28", but would love to know the draw weight of this bow and what the average draw weight was for Warriors and Hunters in the past.
I really enjoyed this video. Going to try and make a bow and arrow set like you have demonstrated. I do have a question though. Did other tribes use cedar arrows? I was told they make good arrow shafts. Thank you for your time.
A couple of issues with his historical assertions! North American native tribes had not achieved the Iron Age, prior to the Europeans come here. They did not have metal arrow heads or knives. Horse are not native to north or South America, they first horses came with the Spaniards. Calling yourselves horse people, is not a true reflection of your natural history! North American tribes did not have any form of written language. Verbal history is very subjective and shows like this prove my point!
Comanche during their time were like the modern day equivalent of special forces. They were some of the last or the last native tribe to have been conquered in the late 19th century. Unfortunately.
For my arrows. I use "fatlighter" which is from old pine trees. I like using the ones from old fence post. You shave them down until orange, heat treat with a fire and as soon as it starts oozing out the pine liquid you take another piece of the same wood and basically sand it down with that piece, it comes out beautiful and is very strong, I've been having trouble trying to get them to fly straight though
Hello I'm Tim like native American 🏹 I whis I had one like that even though I have a bow but it's not like my coltuer commence and kiwi
I didn't want this film clip to end as it was so interesting. Thanks for the insight.
All horses were brought over by the European settlers. I wonder if the Camanche made the bows shorter even before the settlers introduced the horses to hide in the grasslands when hunting. That would also help explain the crouching style of shooting.
More please! 😀 Thank you so much for this video.
Thanks for the enjoyable video, i appreciate the knowledge. One trick I've found for making bark removal a breeze is to gently use a potato peeler to strip the shaft.
I'm looking for a bow but I don't have much money how much would it cost me to have you make a bow for me just wounding please let me know please and my the great father Bless you p.s a bow /w 12 arrows
Super cool. I always wanted to know how the bows and arrows were made by Native Americans. Thanks!!!
Such great interesting content! But please cameraman, don´t cut his face in the middle, it is very annoying not to see the eyes of the speaker.
thank you for making this video. Ive messed around with this stuff since I was a kid, always wondering what wood to use.
Awesome work its amazing to see the way the Comanche held their bow and arrows, Lars Anderson tried to recreate the method comanche used to shoot and ride and did so as true to life as could and in doing so proved just how quick and effective the Comanche could shoot there bows. A trained Comanche could fire an arrow at 100 meters and by the time it landed have 3 or more arrows already in the air on there way. As kids Comanche could shoot bugs and coin out of the air trained from birth with instinctive shooting a interesting thing to note is that alot of Comanche had a harder time shooting stationary targets that we're use to in archery today. Absolutely Mint
A few years ago, with no bow making experience at all I decided I would make one just for the fun of it. I’m sure my choice of material was all wrong, sumac sapling… and all I used was a camping hatchet, a Buck hunting knife, watched a few videos and went by instinct. It actually turned out really well and is even better now that the wood has cured. Surprisingly powerful! I would recommend to anyone making their own bow, and arrows, just for the experience. For the arrows, simple dowels from the hardware store with some duct tape fletching will work fine.
We Made bows similar when we were nippers .
I haven't made a bow and arrows in years. I might have to make a new set after watching this. Great content, thank you.
Greetings from me , Yvo,i live in Kaiserslautern (American called the Town Ktown) Germany...Respect&Honor Sir!!!!
As a New Zealand native Māori this is very interesting thank you
I am a Cherokee passing as white and it was very interesting to see archery from your perspective.We must keep our traditions alive, not because it's cool but because it is us ,we don't want to die as a culture. Love you Brother.
I have been shooting traditional bow since the age of 8 , and am a proud Comanche descendent of Quanah Parker.....
My uncle by marriage was Leroy Parker of Kenefick Texas and he to was a descendant of Quanah Parker!
The Native Americans were here for 40,000 years and never got out of the Stone Age! The consequences? They ended up bringing sharp sticks and stone knives to a Gun Fight.
True and sad.
Great video! I shoot a reflex deflex now but I want to try all the traditional bows. What was the average poundage of the Comanche bows being so short? And how many inches did they draw to, or to where on the body?
More: ruclips.net/video/liHlCRpS70k/видео.html
Can native Americans grow beards?
This is the most informative video on Native Bows and Arrows ive ever seen. It makes a huge difference when u have an expert like Willie teaching it.
This is the most useful, and best presentation I have seen on Comanche archery.
Indigenous aboriginal copper colored people of Turtle Island the Niiji were already in the area known as the Americas misidentified as African American/black/negro. The original term for "native American" referred to the "copper colored races" and then to the "know nothing party". The Native American are of Eurasian descent who signed on the Dawes Rolls to take over the lands of the indigenous Niiji.
@DaneCalloway #imjustheretomakeyouthink
All mankind originated from the "east" therefore related to each other and descendants of Adam and Noah.
(Gen 1:26-30;2:8;3:20;10;11:1-9; Psalm 83:18;Rev 4:11;7:9,10)
Exercise Patience.
May attend in the area nearest you.
Please keep up with your tradition, don’t want to lose this past knowledge! Awesome.😎🏕🦅🦌
nice
Comanche made arrows from oak barrel stays. The barrel hoops were easy to cut and sharpen. I still make them using barrel hoops that I find in the desert. sharp as razors.
I’d love to be able to get in touch with this gentleman and discuss how to get one of his handmade, traditional bows.
I'll take a whole set
Thank you for sharing, Sir
Outstanding! Thanks for sharing our Native American history. I learned a lot. This should be shown in schools today..
Great video!!! Willie should make more videos or even write a book!!!
How do the bows perform when it comes to hunting?
Thank you for the great video
Thank you sir for your time and your knowledge
If you are used to seeing European bows and especially English longbows, the bow and arrows look so light. Of course, they were used quite differently. I don't think there were many knights in armour around in North America. Different solutions for different problems.
Bow hunting is a pure sport. One on one against the game
This Elder is a NATIONAL TREASURE" The History Channel needs to do an episode with him" awesome info share & preservation of History "
Always loved the concept of color coading between tribes. Through that was awesome. Greetings, blessings from Apache native.
c'est passionnant et bien expliqué
Not a bowyer but I do hunt primitive and have for 25years and I still consider myself a “noob”. I still lean things about the art and craft every day. That being said I enjoyed your video very much. Thanks for taking the time making it.
👍👍! Good job Willie! But that last part of the target shot,, sign said "NO BROD HEADS and 50 yards." You weren't 30 ft!
Bravo! Very interesting
Miigwetch for your info!! I l we tend one of way we used to use long ago, hard to find right people.
Much respect to the indigenous more so to the connection to mother.
Native means Mulatto, not Native.
...
*Behold the Christian Race*
...
Cush (Greek: Ethiopia), means sun-burnt face
Phoenicians described by the Greeks, as fair-haired, fair-skinned people
Persia means Lord of the Aryans now renamed IRAN
Zimbabwe once known as Rhodesia
Chicongo once known as Chicago
...
12 Tribes passed through the Caucasus Mountains
(i)ssac's Sons / Saxons / Anglo-Saxons / Europe / Australia / New Zealand / North America / Christian First World / "We the People"
...
38 For as in those days before the flood,
*they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,*
until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away,
*so will be the coming of the Son of Man.*
I rewatch this time and again not just for the information but it is just like visiting home, when I find that background country you see here when Willie Pekah is talking. There are some other videos that show the high "plain" plains I visit for the same reason. Love that country! It has my allegiance over all other.
regarding @bojens 865 ,,,, at 68 , growing up in Pennsylvania ... we all played Mumbly - Peg and built tree forts and played kick the can.... jumped out of trees into piles of Autumn leaves...
actually sang Xmas carols ! ... Snow - forts and sledding and ice - skating ....Not..... to Mention .... the MUSIC we had !!!!!!!!
Maclura pomifera, commonly known as the Osage orange and Bodark was used for many purposes. One as Elder Pekah demonstrates was for making bows. It was also used as a hedgerow to keep cattle contained and a wind break, as an insect repellant, fence post and rail ties to name just a few. We called the fruit it bares horse apples, but they shouldn't be eaten. As boys we sometimes got into chunking battles with the fruit, but you didn't want to get hit as they were a bit heavy and hurt like hell.