American History In Video: Weapons of the Native Americans
Weapons of the Native Americans from The History Channel (A&E Television Networks, 2003) 21:43.
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PETER WOODWARD
Peter Woodward Whether it's ancient combat or modern sport, winning is what it's all about. But how do you win? This man has learned the hard way. Now, he's ready to show you.
CONQUEST
Peter Woodward It was an era like no other. The weapons and warfare of the Plains Indians of North America is a story of defiance and revenge. Proud, fearless warriors waged battles against other tribes and against the white man.
Peter Woodward This time on Conquest, how to win with the weapons of the Native Americans.
MIKE DAVE DAN MARIO
Peter Woodward All right team. I want you to imagine that you're among the first European settlers in the West invading the territories of the Native Americans. You have to learn fast about the tribes and their weapons. You will compete with these weapons in a final challenge. We're gonna be concentrating on the Northern Plains Indians up in the Sioux and the Cheyenne were perhaps the fiercest.
Peter Woodward Native American weapons of choice typically with the spear, the tomahawk, the club, the bow and arrow and later, the rifle. These were essential war tools for the Northern Plains tribes who roamed The Dakotas, Wyoming , Montana and Nebraska . In general, their motivation for fighting each other was typically about exploitation of gain or revenge for killing a relative. But all that changed with the arrival of the European explorers beginning in the 1500s .
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS Called Native Americans Indians, thinking he landed in India .
Peter Woodward The native people couldn't understand the white man's insatiable desire to conquer the entire continent. The Plains Indians in particular were nomadic and had no concept of land ownership. However, warfare was a fact of life.
Peter Woodward Native Americans started with the weapons of old stone age societies. They used wood, bone, horn and especially stone. They were highly skilled at making blades from flint and obsidian. Some of these were excellent knife blades. And the larger blades, they socket it onto wooden shafts and made heavy fighting spears. As for missile weapons, well, we know that some tribes had blow pipes, some had slingshots and all of them had throwing spears. Follow me.
PIERCING WEAPONS - SPEAR
Peter Woodward The spear was known throughout the West as a fierce fighting tool.
Peter Woodward All right, well, we got the throwing spears. Now, there's a rock behind me. Do you think I'll be able to hit that with the spear?
Mario Sure.
Dave Sure.
Mario Absolutely.
Peter Woodward All right. What about the ah, the big rock in the distance?
Mike No.
Dave No.
Dan No way.
Peter Woodward Ah well, we'll see. Because I have a secret weapon. This is called the atlatl. And this is ah, it's just a little hooked piece of wood and it hooks into a notch at the back of the throwing spear. Now, the idea with this is that it increase the range of the throwing spear enormously. And the advantage is that you can use it in one hand. Next, but we should be able to get 120, 150 yards with one of these things. So, let's see how I do. All right. Time you guys have a go.
Peter Woodward They all seem to be having problems. But in the hands of a pro, the atlatl was a priceless tool.
PIERCING WEAPONS-BOW AND ARROW
Peter Woodward Another piercing weapon stick in tradition and the most widely used was the bow and arrow. No one knows exactly when Native Americans began using it. But archaeologists approximate its arrival in North America around 1000 B.C.
Peter Woodward Now the first bows of the European settlers came across was self-bows. As they say, they were made of one piece of wood. And these were used by the tribes in the wooded areas of the East Coast. They were made of ash, hickory, locust. But as the Europeans moved West, they encountered the tribes of the deserts and the plains. And they used a quite different bow, a short bow. Now, this was especially selling off in the European introduction of the horse because it's much better to use a short bow from horseback. Now, these are the bows that you will be learning how to use.
COMPOSITE BOWS 3-4 ft. long: made of wood, horn, and animal sinew
Peter Woodward They are composite, recurve bows. As to say composite meaning made up of a number of different layers. And recurve means that they start off unstrung like that, and here is exactly the same bow, strung. And you see that curve gives the bow enormous power for its size. The arrows had jasper and flintheads to begin with and then this was later replaced by metal heads. The shafts, they have to be absolutely straight. They are made of ash, plum, cherry, osier, current shoots. This one is made of reed. Now, the fletchings is varied very much according to the tribe. This one is crow, for instance. And all the fletchings were basically turkey feathers bound around with animal sinews. And each arrow was also individually marked so there'd be no argument about whose arrow will hit man or beast. And we're gonna do exactly the same with your arrows.
ARROWS 20-24 in. long; can be shot completely through a buffalo.
Peter Woodward The bow and arrow is an excellent weapon to use from great distances on foot or on horseback. But for close combat, Native Americans used striking weapons.
STRIKING WEAPONS-CLUB
Peter Woodward Let's look at striking weapons. The first of which was the club. The stone-headed club was a grooved stone wrapped in wet sinew which attached it to a shaft. The shaft was usually of solid wood. Sometimes, it was quite thin and flexible carved wood wrapped in hide. This gave it an astonishing flexibility. Bone, teeth and horn were also used as clubs, particularly jaw bones. And this can be sharpened up to make a really vicious weapon.
Peter Woodward These clubs were quite effective. But weaponry was forever changed with the introduction of iron. In return for furs, skins and pelts, European settlers traded iron blades which modernized traditional Native American weapons.
Peter Woodward Sometimes, these blades were attached to clubs. Like this one the gunstock club as it's called 'cause it's shaped like a gunstock.
GUNSTOCK WARCLUB 30 in. long; often decorated with brass tacks.
Peter Woodward And you might have one, two or even three blades attached to this pretty vicious weapon. But perhaps the most important of the trade goods for the Indians were the heads, for axes and Tomahawks. And the war hatchet was called a Tomahawk or Tomahawken by the Algonkian Indians of Virginia . And the early European settlers near the early 17th century picked up the wood. The Tomahawk was universal. It was carried as a belt axe by the whites. It was used in every kind of form by the Indian tribes.
Peter Woodward Despite all the traditional Native American weaponry, the white man's gun symbolized tremendous power and revolutionized warfare. The Plains Indians were in all of the thunder and smoke that came from the spirit within the hollow metal barrel. As early as the 1600s , they began purchasing firearms from white settlers and traders. At the time, there were two kinds of muskets. The matchlock and the flintlock. But these guns were slow and difficult to load. For close lightning raids on horseback, the bow and arrow posses the superior rate of fire. But the Native Americans' love affair with firearms had begun and there was no turning back.
Peter Woodward But by the 1850's , the breech-loading rifle came along and changed everything.
BREECH RIFLES Takes 15 seconds to reload.
Peter Woodward At last, there was a worthy replacement for the bow. This is an 1854 Sharps Carbine. It's a breech loader and it fires this cartridge which included both the powder and the bullet. The bullet is placed inside here. The gun is prepared. The cushion cap is placed here, and you're ready to fire. But in the 1870s , the classic Winchester repeating rifle came along. Now, this had a magazine inside this tube here, which could carry fourteen bullets. They will load it like this. You chambered the round by using this lever and now you're ready to fire. You eject it and fire it again, and again, and again, fourteen times. At last, the Indians had a weapon they could use on foot or on horseback and fire a whole stream of bullets.
Peter Woodward By trading first for firearms or by stealing them, the Northern Plains Indians had more rifles in some battles than the U.S. Army. However, they still held on to some of their traditional war paraphernalia. Along with an arsenal of offensive weapons, Indians also made defensive weapons.
DEFENSIVE WEAPONS - SHIELDS
Peter Woodward Native American tribes had many different designs of shield. The Plains Indians in their early days, they had large body covering shields made of buffalo hide. But with the advent of firearms and particularly the horse, shields became smaller. And the classic Plains Indian design came about. Now, these were made of hide but not just any old skin. It was taken from the neck of a bull bison. Now, these things could certainly deflect a lance. They could probably stop an arrow. It's possible that they could even deflect or slow down a musket bull or a bullet. What do you think?
Mario I don't know. I don't think these things could stop a bullet.
Peter Woodward Yeah, but you're not thinking like a Native American. You see, the shield's strength is not just in its thickness. It's in this, the symbols on the shield itself. They were the design by the shamans and they had magical significance. European traders couldn't understand why the Indian tribes would not buy steel shields. Their own say its superior. Western views of what constitutes an effective weapon or defense are not the same as Indian views.
Peter Woodward Weapons were both utilitarian and highly symbolic. Native Americans believed that decorated weapons were imbued with strong medicine as important as the weapon itself. The team has less than a day to master a variety of weapons in preparation for the final challenge.
CONQUEST WEAPON #1 - THE TOMAHAWK
Peter Woodward I mean, in theory throwing the hawk should be pretty simple. The difficult thing is to estimate the range. The ideal position for the hawk to land is like that. It lands like this and you know you gotta take an extra step back to allow the hawk to rotate just that little bit more. Now, from this range, there should be about two rotations of the hawk before it hits. Now, you start off by aiming directly at the centerpoint. And you'll almost certainly miss it. Okay, have a go guys.
Peter Woodward Each team member will be given four chances to hit the wooden target. Mario holds the hawk, and strikes dead center on his first attempt. Unfortunately, it was beginner's luck. Dave manages to strike the target once. Dan on the other hand, shows real potential as he hits the target three times. However, Mike fails to get the proper strength behind his swing.
Peter Woodward All right, guys. It's time get to learn how to use the bow.
WEAPON #2 - THE BOW ARROW
Peter Woodward We're gonna be using modern composite bows that are similar in power and strength to the Native American weapons. We'll also be using modern target arrows with fletching and modern nocks.
NOCK A notch for holding the string at the end of an arrow.
Peter Woodward Now, there were many different designs of Native American bow and all of them would have a different style of draw. The simplest was simply to pinch the arrow between thumb and forefinger and pulling back. For these powerful bows, you need much more strength than that. So, you need at least one finger coiled around the string to assist in the pull. The draw, I suggest that you use is the Mediterranean hold. It's simply one finger above, two fingers underneath. A lot of Native American tribes use this including the Inuit. Now, your fingers will not be used to these strings. So, if you want to, you can wear a leather finger tab to protect them. And also, every single bowman of every culture used some kind of bracer on the left arm to prevent the string from slapping against it and bruising it really badly. So, I want you to stand here and take your shots. Step back, here we go.
[sil.]
Peter Woodward The target is close. It seems like an easy shot but Dan misses. Mario is up next and he misses, too. Both are trying to use the point of aim, looking at the point of arrow in relation to the target, the classic Western technique, which just doesn't seem to be working. Mike and Dave used the same style. They drew and aimed carefully, concentrating hard. But none of these guys are experienced archers, and they all failed to hit the target. Our archers in training realized that it's not as easy as it looks. They definitely need more instruction.
Peter Woodward Now, the Native Americans used this weapon from childhood. They used it absolutely, instinctively. They just didn't think about it too much. Basically, they concentrated on the target and let the arrow shoot itself. Now, this may seem weird, but if you keep trying this technique, its amazing what good results you can get. Okay, you have a try. See if you can improve your scores.
Peter Woodward This time the team relaxes, focusing on the target. By not thinking about the mechanics of bow and arrow, the team makes a rapid improvement in performance. The style is far from perfect, but they are shooting more smoothly and accurately. For some of them, it really does seem that the arrow was shooting itself.
Peter Woodward This is really interesting guys. Using your previous aiming technique, you hardly got any arrows on target at all. But now with the instinctive technique, all of you got at least two out of six arrows on target. They were usually your last two. Maybe this instinctive technique does work better after all. And you were about to find out. Because we're now gonna put these targets on either side, and you're gotta have run through them and loose at each of them in turn. You're not gonna have time to aim, you've got to do it by instinct. Let's see how you do. The warrior had to learn to shoot arrows on the run. He carried at least five arrows inside the bow hand, one in the bow itself, a couple more in its teeth, plenty more in his quiver. The action was fast and flowing. You will draw high and shoot low. He would then immediately feel for the cock feather of his next arrow, and he would have set this up, so that he could draw them straight out, lay them across his bow and nock them all in one smooth, fluid motion. Why don't you have a go.
Peter Woodward Shooting the bow and arrow on the run is a real challenge for our inexperienced team.
Mario That was the hardest part, actually. Nocking the arrow and getting it set while you're running. So, you know, aiming was actually easier.
Dan When I came down I was running and took the first shot, and I was pretty happy that I nailed it. And I said to myself, well just go with the flow.
Mike When you're pulling back the arrow, you have to hold it at a certain angle, and I had it a little bit off and it left a little mark for me right there on my arm.
Peter Woodward Overtime, the Native American weapon of choice changed. The white man brought in guns to tame the wild west, and many Indians became expert marksman. Just how important was this? Lets find out. Mario and Dan will fire as many arrows as they can in 20 seconds. Mike will fire as many shot as he can with an early breech loader rifle. And Dave will use an advance repeating rifle. 20 seconds on the clock. Go.
00:20 Repeating Rifle Dave Breech Loading Mike Bow and Arrow Mario Bow and Arrow Dan 00:19 Repeating Rifle Dave Breech Loading Mike Bow and Arrow Mario Bow an Arrow Dan 00:18 Repeating Rifle Dave 1 Breech Loading Mike 1 Bow and Arrow Mario 1 Bow and Arrow Dan 1 00:17 Repeating Rifle Dave 2 Breech Loading Mike 1 Bow and Arrow Mario 1 Bow and Arrow Dan 1 00:16 Repeating Rifle Dave 2 Breech Loading Mike 1 Bow and Arrow Mario 1 Bow and Arrow Dan 1 00:15 Repeating Rifle Dave 3 Breech Loading Mike 1 Bow and Arrow Mario 2 Bow and Arrow Dan 1 00:14 Repeating Rifle Dave 3 Breech Loading Mike 1 Bow and Arrow Mario 2 Bow and Arrow Dan 1 00:13 Repeating Rifle Dave 4 Breech Loading Mike 1 Bow and Arrow Mario 2 Bow and Arrow Dan 1 00:12 Repeating Rifle Dave 5 Breech Loading Mike 1 Bow and Arrow Mario 2 Bow and Arrow Dan 2 00:11 Repeating Rifle Dave 5 Breech Loading Mike 1 Bow and Arrow Mario 2 Bow and Arrow Dan 2 00:10 Repeating Rifle Dave 6 Breech Loading Mike 1 Bow and Arrow Mario 3 Bow and Arrow Dan 2 00:09 Repeating Rifle Dave 6 Breech Loading Mike 2 Bow and Arrow Mario 3 Bow and Arrow Dan 2 00:08 Repeating Rifle Dave 7 Breech Loading Mike 2 Bow and Arrow Mario 3 Bow and Arrow Dan 3 00:07 Repeating Rifle Dave 8 Breech Loading Mike 2 Bow and Arrow Mario 3 Bow and Arrow Dan 3 00:06 Repeating Rifle Dave 8 Breech Loading Mike 2 Bow and Arrow Mario 4 Bow and Arrow Dan 3 00:05 Repeating Rifle Dave 9 Breech Loading Mike 2 Bow and Arrow Mario 4 Bow and Arrow Dan 3 00:04 Repeating Rifle Dave 9 Breech Loading Mike 2 Bow and Arrow Mario 4 Bow and Arrow Dan 4 00:03 Repeating Rifle Dave 9 Breech Loading Mike 2 Bow and Arrow Mario 5 Bow and Arrow Dan 4 00:02 Repeating Rifle Dave 9 Breech Loading Mike 2 Bow and Arrow Mario 5 Bow and Arrow Dan 4 00:01 Repeating Rifle Dave 9 Breech Loading Mike 3 Bow and Arrow Mario 5 Bow and Arrow Dan 4 00:00 Repeating Rifle Dave 9 Breech Loading Mike 3 Bow and Arrow Mario 5 Bow and Arrow Dan 4
Peter Woodward The team was shooting at close range. In this experiment, accuracy is not the issue. What matters is the number of bullets or arrows each man can shoot.
[sil.]
Peter Woodward The results are not surprising.
BREECH LOADING RIFLE
Mike I got three.
BOW ARROW
Mario I got a five.
Dan I got a four.
BOW ARROW WINCHESTER REPEATING RIFLE
Dave I shot off nine, very easily. Just kind of very casually, got off nine shots.
Peter Woodward Our team has demonstrated why many Native Americans laid down their bows in exchange for the gun.
Dave I felt like, if anybody got the Winchester they would very easily become a dangerous opponent. And no the breech loader in the back, I noticed he was taking his time. He had to reload it every single time. Take it out. It just seem to take forever.
Peter Woodward The Winchester was indeed the fastest rifle of the West. But for the final Conquest challenge, our team will have to compete with indigenous Indian weaponry.
CONQUEST
[sil.]
Peter Woodward The day has arrived. Our four warriors in training will test their skills in a final Conquest challenge.
Peter Woodward All right. This time to give you your final challenge or rather sequence of challenges. First, you're gonna throw spears, then tomahawks. Finally, we move on to bows. You will fire a long range shot, and then you will run through a sequence of targets, loosing up one arrow at each of them. The one who gets the most rounds, wins the challenge. Good luck.
MIKE DAN DAVE MARIO
Peter Woodward In round one of the final Conquest challenge, each member of the team gets three chances to throw the spear using the ancient Atlatl.
ROUND ONE - THE SPEAR ATLATL
Peter Woodward Round one begins. Dave , take a strong stance and spikes the target with his second spear.
[sil.]
Peter Woodward Mario , puts on a brave face, but fails to hit the target. Mike , looks relaxed. As he strikes the target on his third try. Dan , chose intense concentration and form as he scores two hits. So, Dan , takes the lead, winning round one.
ROUND 1 - THE ATLATL DAVE 1 MARIO 0 MIKE 1 DAN 2 CONQUEST ROUND TWO ROUND TWO - THE TOMAHAWK
Peter Woodward Now, the team moves to round two: throwing the tomahawk. Lined up side by side, each team member gets six chances to hit the wooden target. And they begin. Dave hits the target on the first, second, and sixth try. Dan scores on his fourth and fifth attempt. And Mario and Mike both strike out.
ROUND 2 - THE TOMAHAWK DAVE 3 DAN 2 MARIO 0 MIKE 0
Peter Woodward Dave wins round two with three hits. And now ties for the lead with Dan .
ROUND 1 SPEARS Dan ROUND 2 TOMAHAWK Dave
Peter Woodward The team now advances to round three, shooting arrows at a stationary target. A life size grizzly bear.
ROUND THREE ROUND THREE - BOW ARROW ROUND 3 - BOW AND ARROW MIKE 0 DAVE 0
Peter Woodward Dave and Mike simultaneously shoot their arrows at the beastly target.
ROUND 3 - BOW AND ARROW MIKE 0 DAVE 1 MIKE 1 DAVE 1 MIKE 1 DAVE 2 MIKE 1 DAVE 3
Peter Woodward Mike hits the grizzly's leg, but Dave strikes the bears head and both arms. He leads with three hits.
ROUND 3 - BOW AND ARROW MARIO 0 DAN 0
Peter Woodward Next Mario and Dan launched their arrows. Mario misses the animal.
ROUND 3 - BOW AND ARROW MARIO 0 DAN 1 MARIO 0 DAN 2
Peter Woodward Dan hits the leg and the bulls eye shot, right through the grizzlies eye.
ROUND 3 BOW AND ARROW MIKE 1 DAVE 3 MARIO 0 DAN 2
Peter Woodward However, Dave still wins round three by scoring three hits.
ROUND 1 SPEARS DAN ROUND 2 3 TOMAHAWK BOWS ARROWS DAVE
Peter Woodward Going to the fourth and final round. Dave is in first place, but will he be the ultimate victor?
CONQUEST ROUND FOUR
Peter Woodward Round four promises to be the most difficult part of the Conquest challenge.
ROUND FOUR - BOW ARROW ON THE RUN
Peter Woodward The team must shoot arrows at four targets tuck along the rugged, sweltering terrain. And they must hit them while on the run.
ROUND 4 BOW AND ARROW ON THE RUN DAVE 0
Peter Woodward Dave , swiftly raises along the trail, just misses with his first shot but hits the second target and the third.
ROUND 4 BOW AND ARROW ON THE RUN DAVE 1 DAVE 2 ROUND 4 BOW AND ARROW ON THE RUN MARIO 0
Peter Woodward Mario picks up the phase and strikes the first and the third targets.
ROUND 4 BOW AND ARROW ON THE RUN MARIO 1 MARIO 2
Peter Woodward He hits the wood on the second target, but that doest count.
ROUND 4 BOW AND ARROW ON THE RUN MIKE 0 MIKE 1 MIKE 2 MIKE 3
Peter Woodward Mike proves he's in his element, striking the first, third, and fourth targets.
ROUND 4 BOW AND ARROW ON THE RUN DAN 0 DAN 1 DAN 2
Peter Woodward Dan , a strong competitor on the previous rounds, comes up short by scoring hits only on the first and third targets.
ROUND 4 - BOW AND ARROW ON THE RUN DAVE 2 MARIO 2 MIKE 3 DAN 2
Peter Woodward So, Mike wins round four with his three hits. Well done team. A really tough very challenge with some remarkable weapons. But only one of you was able to win two rounds. Well done Dave . You're the big winner.
Peter Woodward There's no question that the Native Americans were superb warriors. The plains Indians, in particular, fought to the bitter end. But they were overwhelmed by technology, numbers, and relentless military operations. By the end of the 19th Century, all the tribes had been relocated to reservations. But our team has come to respect their fighting spirit, as we have learned how to win with the weapons of the Native Americans.
H INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Craig Haffner Donna E. Lusitana HOSTED BY Peter Woodward DIRECTED BY Andrew Nock SUPERVISING PRODUCER Louis C. Tarantino COORDINATING PRODUCER Andrew Nock WRITTEN BY Laura Verklan ADDITIONAL WRITING Peter Woodward EDITORS Gina Cecchione Keith Baker ASSOCIATE PRODUCER Brian Thompson DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Tom Collins MUSIC BY Blake Neely RESEARCHERS Ryan Clum Matt Flaherty GENERAL COUNSEL Shinaan S. Krakowsky POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR Jason Kaifesh MAIN TITLE AND GRAPHIC DESIGN Christopher Gaal ONLINE/COMPOSITE EDITOR Rod Decker ASSITANT ONLINE EDITOR Brad Schreiber HISTORICAL CONSULTANT Carl A. Clink ADDITIONAL CAMERAS Brandon Hickman Andrew Nock ASSISTANT AVID EDITORS Chris Worthington Emily Moss PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Savas Georgalis PRODUCTION DESIGNER Carl Clink FIELD AUDIO Paul Wustruck ON-SET MEDIC Sahan Yagamur PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Matthew Compton Ryan Graham Matthew Laudermilk FIELD PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Morgan Ely Dan Gonzalez Steve Matijik John Ryan POST PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Georgina Lljubo POST PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Jenna Bradford Erin Howie Dion A. Labriola Hannah Smith CONTROLLER Anit Chan PRODUCTION ACCOUNTANT Vivian Santos BOOKKEEPER Arineh Baghdasarian POST PRODUCTION AUDIO Seven Seconds Tim Rock CATERING The Londoner SPECIAL THANKS TO David Dragun Dan Forcey Mario Perez Mike Tumino ARCHIVAL STILLS AND FOOTAGE PROVIDED BY National Archives Library of Congress Hulton-Deutch Collection/Corbis Bettmann /Corbis Christie's Images/Corbis FOR THE HISTORY CHANNEL PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Marc Finnegan PROGRAMMING ASSOCIATE Ayanna Cole EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Beth Dietrich Segarra PRODUCED BY Greystone Communications Inc. for The History Channel © 2003 A Television Networks All Rights Reserved H INTERNATIONAL
Natve Americans weapons 21:43