Lori's trip to Ottawa last weekend prompted me to revist some photos I took at the
Canadian Museum of Civilization last year. I found a few photos of Copper Inuit Cable backed bows.
The Tuktut Nogait bow would have been cable backed, like these and you can see how there is extra lashing at the bend in the limb for the recurve. This is necessary for the cable to follow the line of the bow, but it also reinforces joins in the wood. I can't be certain from the photos, but it looks like the bow in the display case has a limb spliced on in exactly the same way as the Tuktut Nogait bow.
But there are also many differences. The CMC bows are much thicker limbed and the bows have quite square cross-sections. The Tuktut Nogait bow has very flat, delicate limbs by comparison. There doesn't seem to be an isolated grip in these bows either, whereas the Tuktut Nogait bow has a narrowed grip that protrudes on the belly side of the bow. Nevertheless, references like these will be useful when it comes time to assemble my bow, there is a lot of detail visible in the cable backing.
Here's a quick look at the bows I'm working on as of this morning. I've narrowed the staves a bit and tried to layout the length of the bows to avoid as many knots as possible (the Tuktut Nogait bow has no knots in the wood at all). Right now I'm working the backs. The growth rings on yew are so narrow that its a real challenge to plane the back down to a single growth ring, when they are only 1 mm thick. Once I get the backs properly planed, the rest of the shaping of the bows will be on the sides and the belly.
The Kitikmeot Heritage Society has more great information on making these kinds of bows
on their website.
Photo Credits: Tim Rast
Photo Captions:Top, Inuit Cable Backed Bows at the CMC
Second, Copper Inuit Bow and Hunting Case on display at the CMC, dates to before 1916
Third, Same bow, different view
Fourth, Yew staves in progress
I started an indigenous Canada bow making group kinda thing. I was amazed to learn secrets in the process of making the bow n arrows. I fell in love with siyahs and Mongolian bows I bought a grozer from Hungary I believe. Anyway I thought it was the coolest hands down, THEN K LAST NITE I replied to an Alaskan who was m along a kayak, I then researched Inuit bows and the coppper Inuit bows blew my mind away and I began researching them appreciating the hardships of not having good wood at all except maybe driftwood that was spliced with caribou antler and a cable. BUT IT WAS THE DESIGN that I loved. Unstrung it looks like the siyahs or recurve is backwards l. Like a D shape and then two curves on the same direction. I Read the purpose was to help secure m hold everything together? IS THIS TRUE, they certainly look more functional than that.
ReplyDeleteAlso is it because the back becomes the belly that the curves go that way, I’ve been researching trying to find awnsers, However I respect that this BOW was given to the people of the north, just as we were given ours ojibway? From the creator.
BUT I HAVE TO MAKE ONE, or try my best.
Could someone explain the shape n why it has those double bends at the end in that direction?
Mattnconroy@gmail.com
Any other information is appreciated to. I left my email as I’m not sure how to get the information should you or done one respond.
Wondering how awesome the yew bow turned out, and if the backing was truly that much more effective with yew as with compression pine.
It almost seems like the pine was half the bow n the cable was the other half or the back.
Matthew