BC bows

[jayman448]

I am in the interior of BC Canada and was wondering if anyone knows what kind of archery tackle the local indigenous peoples would have used (bow woods, arrow woods and heads) also what kind of bows (bendy handle? long? short?) im wondering about the interior tribes ( schushwap) as I can assume costal natives had many choices such as maple, ocean spray, etc. anyways. just something ive been wondering but not had much luck researching. any ideas?

[YosemiteBen]

google Delmar Williams he is a tracker, guide, survival skills and native.

[jayman448]

ok ill try that

[wizardgoat]

Same bow woods we use here now, they used then. Most the bows found on the coast were of the usually west coast style, shorter, wider, and bendy handles usually. There's also writings of longer and narrow yew bows as well. 
besides yew, many coastal First Nations used vine maple, ocean spray, pacific dogwood and crabapple, white oak, just about anything they could get their hands on. For arrows, ocean spray, dogwood, hazel, and mock orange. interior Indians used juniper, serviceberry, Douglas maple, choke cherry. there are many flint, jasper, agate, and obsidian sources in this province too. Tools and blades made from these rocks have been found pretty far away from their source.

[jayman448]

wondering for the interior, not the coast.

[wizardgoat]

interior Indians used juniper, serviceberry, Douglas maple, choke cherry. there are many flint, jasper, agate, and obsidian sources in this province too. Tools and blades made from these rocks have been found pretty far away from their source.

[jayman448]

Ok. Any idea on the actual style of the bow?

[JackCrafty]

If I'm not mistaken, the interior tribes depended a lot on buffalo hunting.  Mountain buffalo (translation:  VERY BIG) were present in Northeastern BC, at the very least, as well as the usual bison.

Sinew backed and cable-backed softwood bows were probably the norm. Buffalo sinew was used whenever possible.  Graceful gull-wing bow types were probably the most common bows.  At least two major language groups existed in the interior so we can't be sure that these tribes used the same types of bows but my guess is that they did.  If I were to build a bow from that area, I would look at as many northern plains bows as I could, find an "average" size, and then build one a little bigger than average so I could get at least a 26" draw.