Indigenous Bowyer | making a recurve bow 

Making a hunting-weight recurve bow.
Bowmaking was passed down to me by my father and uncle. Many of the tools I used in this video are hand-me-downs. Some tools I sought out and purchased. My knowledge has been accumulated from my family, community elders, friends, archery books, museum research and online forums. Today, there aren’t many Native bowyers alive that pass on these teachings. I want to keep what I learn alive for my future generations by sharing it.
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This bow (65in) is longer than our traditional chest-draw bows which were on average 50-55 inches. This is to account for my height and contemporary corner-of-the-mouth draw style. While I used osage orange, a beautiful bow wood, our traditional preference was oak because it was very accessible. This video and my craft is not intended to depict the most traditional or ancient method, but rather to showcase the way I do things today as a living Native crafter. So much of modern bowmaking is an amalgamation of styles, tools and methods from different cultures and I appreciate every one of them. Some days, I craft using no metal tools, and other days I make things using power tools.
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The handle design I used in this video is JD Jones’ (of pinnacleselfbows) signature handle wrap style. He does a much better job than I did, so go check him out if you’re interested in the design.
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#nativeamerican #archery #bowandarrow #selfbow #stickbow #bodark #osageorangebow #recurvebow