Leather Feathers
Let us all go back to a time in history when we as a species hunted with bow and arrow on a daily basis. We are hunter gatherers .
Our hunt has been good today. Two of our arrows found their marks and two Coastal Black tail deer died quickly. We will rejoice in camp tonight as our food cache is critically low and fresh meat is badly needed to feed our camp of 20 including 3 children . The bones of the deer will be used for tools and arrow heads. The hides will be turned into leather for clothing and hunting implements employing both bark tanning and brain tanning.
We find ourselves without fletching feathers today . The feather fletching bag caught fire last night and all of our primary feathers were burned beyond recognition. The men were out hunting and the women and children were fishing when a wind came up and fanned our campfire burning the feather bag and two of our bows . Burning feathers is a smell we will not forget for some time and a problem we will deal with beginning tomorrow . It will be another 3 weeks before the ducks and geese begin their northern migration into our area so we can not replenish our bird feathers until then .Usually we fletch our wild rose and willow shoots with primary feathers of these birds but for the next few weeks we will be shooting 'leather feathers ' and thanks to the teachings of our ancestors we will still be able to shoot accurately.
It is not as simple to fletch with 'leather' as it is with a' feather ' but we have no alternative as we must hunt every day to feed the family . Bark tanned leather behaves much like a birds feather and has a soft side like the bottom side of the feather and a tough smooth side like the top side of the feather .Everyone in camp will be working on 'leather feathers' tomorrow . Working with hide glue, leg and back sinew, and cuttings of leather, will have us all' chuckling.' They really like one another and want to bond as the hide glue is just a shorter molecular chain than leather and sinew . The 'chuckles' really begin when each finger, being just another protein molecule , tries to bond with all three as you will see on your first try . Hide glue will amaze you if you have not worked with it before as it's strength surpasses many glues that are sold today. Beef rawhide sold in pet food stores as a small dog bone makes an excellent 'hide glue' and can be rendered down in 3 to 5 hours with 3 cups of simmering water in a small sauce pan . The deer rawhide is my favorite for making hide glue . The impurities will settle as a jellied globule on the bottom and can be spooned off at the end . Now you have 'hide glue' that will take you on an amazing journey .
Cut a piece of ( leather in the shape of a fast feather 0173.jpg) with a 1\2 by 1\4 inch tail on the trailing edge of the feather. Coat the three tails with hide glue,on the soft or bottom side of the leather, and position them evenly around the arrow shaft ahead of the knock and tie all three down with a fine piece of back sinew that has been soaking in warm water for fifteen minutes and dipped in warm 'hide glue' just as you begin to wrap. Start at the largest end of the sinew and work towards the smallest end . Put this arrow aside to dry until the hide glue does not feel cool to the touch . Moving on to the next part of the process will require a bit more of your dexterity . The idea now is to tension one 'leather feather' and rotate it on the shaft , and tie it down with a thin piece of back sinew that has been soaking in warm water and dipped in warm hide glue . Again , start to wrap from the large end of the sinew gradually putting tension on the sinew as you wrap towards the fine end and remembering to 'chuckle' . When all three feathers have been applied in this same way and have dried, you are almost ready to shoot 'leather feathers' , but I must tell you about waterproofing before you go out in the rain . I spoke with the elders and told them about this waterproofing stuff we have now so we don't have to use so much ' bear grease and bees wax' and we call it ' finger nail polish' . They said to go ahead and use it, if it's going to cut down on those two . The end and the beginning...............
For months now I (Author with linen backed yew bow built by my son Jamie aka 'ravenbeak' 0172.jpg ) have wondered what would I do if I was not able to obtain feathers to fletch my arrows . Would I have to stop shooting with bow and arrow ? To satisfy my own curiosity , I took my thinking back to a time when this was reality. First I used my fletching jig , and fletched with different shapes of leather on wild rose , Port oxford Cedar , and willow shoots and they all shot well, so well in fact , they gave feathers good competition .( leather fletching using a fletching jig 0089.jpg)
As hunter gatherers and resourceful people we would have resorted to leather fletching due to circumstances and geographic locations. Let us say the resource was 'always on our back'. Each hunter would carry rawhide for hide glue , leg and back sinew for wrapping , and scraps of leather , and wear leather clothing that could be trimmed in an emergency , to produce 'leather feathers'.
I believe that leather, being more difficult to work with than feather , would have necessitated a strategy in design to simplify cutting and application when working with sinew and hide glue . After experimenting with different shapes and sizes I let the obsidian arrowhead be my guide . (obsidian arrow heads 0137.jpg) As I admired it's sleekness of design and it's fast look, it took me back to a long ago time . Now, all I need is a fast 'leather feather' , to guide this missile. ( looking down a fast 'leather feather' 0131.jpg) It must be sleek in design. I must be able to cut it out with my knife . It must be easy to apply. It must be spirally fletched to spin out any imperfections in my wild rose and willow shoots and any imperfections in my arrow heads. Each hunter must be able to fletch 6 arrows in a one day camp as we are hunter gathers and we must hunt every day to feed the family, or we will starve . ( 6 Port Oxford Cedar shafts fletched from buckskin in a one day camp .0145.jpg)
Broken Arrow
[attachment deleted by admin]
