Hawthorn bows

[Bill Vaughn]

Hi, all. Does anyone know which American tribes routinely used bows made of hawthorn? And any ideas about how these were constructed? Thanks.

[Pat B]

Hawthorn should make a very good bow if you can find any straight enough. I think RyanO built one a few years ago.

[Buckeye Guy]

Welcome to PA , Bill !!
I have been wanting to do some Hawthorn
 so far I have not found any good stuff to use
Guy

[blackhawk]

Welcome to PA , Bill !!
I have been wanting to do some Hawthorn
 so far I have not found any good stuff to use
Guy

Ill get ya some Guy...stuff grows big n like weeds around here...I did cut some,but haven't made a bow from it yet,and I actually gave what I had away...n I can garaunty it'll have some character to.

Not sure if any NA tribes used hawthorn for bows??? It can be finicky after being cut

[Marc St Louis]

So far as I know, Hawthorn is not native to this country so it's not likely that it was used by any native tribe in NA

[Pat B]

Marc, there are a few Hawthorns that are native to North America.

[Qwill]

I've made two bows from Hawthorn, and I like it. I think the type I have here in Oregon is Black Hawthorne, which my folks always call Thornberry. It's tough stuff, and if you don't mind a little twist or character, it works great. It would almost be worth coppicing a couple Hawthorn bushes just to get staves later on. If I had to make bows from only local woods, I would pick, in no particular order hawthorn, serviceberry, and yew, followed by douglas maple, which is hit or miss ( ha ha). Okay, not that funny.

[Marc St Louis]

It would seem that there are a few native species of Hawthorn.  I know they are not native to our area here because I remember my grandmother telling me that they were a pest and they didn't have any in the area, until my grandfather brought some from Quebec that is.  I still doubt it was used since there are much easier wood to work available.