How to Make An Authentic Native-American Arrow
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
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
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!
awesomely cool amazing
What kind of arrow heads should i use.
do you know how to make a bow and arrow
so cool
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.
very cool
cool
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
HOW TO MAKE A BOW
i like the instructions.
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 ‘ ………
I make these and mount them on a plaque for my Webelos who earn the Arrow of Light award.
I need to make some of these. 🙂
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,
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.
cool! I will try it out it was useful for a school report.
The arrow it worked out great for my son he just got his hunting licence.
It really works
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.
Cool
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!
It is illegal for MOST people to have songbird and birds of prey feathers. So be careful.
Use crow for arrows remember the bigger the feather the less distance you will get , an it slows the arrow much faster
this could be very useful because I am running out of arrows
just use ur arrows over again
To make a bow use piece of white pvc pipe. It helps if you heat it up over a fire and flatten it
This looks fun!
This is cool i made it and it works
great
I have not tried it yet but I think it will be cool
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
awsome but too much stuff
you should get up and do something just because it has a lot of stuff you should still make it
cool
This should work pretty good with my long bow.
I have a bow and made these arrows. I tried them out and they work quite well.
ive made one without the tip and useing magnolia leaves as the flechings
Ok that’s so cool tomorrow I’m going to the river bank to look for flint rock to carve arrow heads
Cool!
Good tutorial. Thanks.
Awesome! I’ll try it; it seems better made than mine!
thanks Iv got a quiver so i need a bow and arrow i gonna make the bow later and the arrows
Thanks for the instructions, i’ve made arrows but these seem better than mine. also it will help for target practice!
i try that
i got a hand crafted bow made from a cherokee nativve american will these arrows work?
yea
Great Instructions! I have obsidian arrowheads so i’m going to make two arrows for my cousins using a dowel as the shaft.
but how do you make a bow
nice arrows!
this will help me kill deer thanks for the tutorial
i create wepons most are spears and javlins but im also intrestid in arrows i realy want to do this and eddit this
I am going to make a native American weapon for social studies. Do you recommend this?
No
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.
Ya neat I love weapons pretty cool
i used this for my bow, it flies good
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.