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Buckskin quiver painted with blue, red, green, and yellow / Joseph Henry Sharp Collection

Essay/Description

Buckskin quiver, painted with blue, red, green, and yellow. Unstrung bow with four band of deer hide with dew claws wrapped around bow. Green stroud cloth on shaft of quiver. 9 wooden arrows with metal tips, feathers tied with sinew.

The bow was introduced to North America most likely around 1000 C.E. Bows and arrows were used in warfare and in hunting. The nomadic Plains tribes were hunter-gatherers and relied on the buffalo as their main source of food and resources. The tribes also hunted bear, elk, and antelope.

Arrows had to be made with experienced and practiced hands in order to be effective, accurate, and deadly. Region and tribe dictated arrow styles and materials. Shafts were made of straight wood, steams, cane, or reeds, and points or heads were often made of flint, different types of stone, horn, bone, shell, and copper. Iron quickly became popular with its introduction after white contact (Taylor 2001, 74-77).

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Title(s): 
Buckskin quiver painted with blue, red, green, and yellow
Creator(s): 
Joseph Henry Sharp Collection (Collection)
Culture: 
Native American; Apache (artist and user)
Date: 
19th century
Period: 
Historic
Place: 
Southern Plains, United States of America
Materials/Techniques: 
leather, wood, feather, metal, wool, pigment, fur, deer dew claws, sinew
Classification: 
Accession No: 
84.1898a-k
Previous Number(s): 
84.1898 a-k
Department: 
Not On View

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