Mescalero Apache bow, bowcase, nine arrows, and quiver; buckskin, rawhide, red flannel, sinew, wood, iron, paint, feathers; bow: l. 108 cm; bowcase: l. 79 cm; arrows: average l. 105 cm.; quiver: l. 60 cm.; ca. 1880.<BR> This set was collected in June/July 1883 at San Carlos or Camp Apache, Arizona. The gently recurved double-arc wood bow has a twisted sinew string, and is reinforced with sinew wrapping at five points along its length, including the middle and ends. The bow ends are not notched. At the end of the bow where the string was tied (the other end is a loop) is also tied a short buckskin thong; Western Apaches also do this to indicate the bottom end of the bow (Ferg 1987:50). The solid wood arrows have triangular metal points, and sinew wrapping to secure the points and fletching. Incised wavy or spiral lines run the length of the shafts. Sometimes called "blood grooves," the lines on these arrows appear more decorative than functional; one has red paint worked into it.<BR> The quiver has an attached bowcase, and a wide carrying strap; all are made of buckskin that is now very dirty from much use, and all stitching is sinew. A polished dowel-like stick, decoratively wrapped with a strip of red flannel, serves as a rigid support between the quiver and bowcase. The mouth of the case has been folded back on itself to make a reinforced cuff; the base is a double thickness of stiff rawhide, surrounded with buckskin fringes. This basic construction pattern is typical of many groups in the Southwest. The whole is undecorated except for what may have been light yellow ochre paint on the quiver cuff. Examples of similar construction, but with beaded decoration on the quiver, bowcase and strap, and some with the hair left on the hide (mountain lion?) can be seen in various photographs taken of the Mescalero men who visited the Tertio-Millennial Exposition (see Broder 1990:figs. 95,96; Ferg 1998b:61; Opler 1983c:429; cf. Mason 1894: plates lxxvii and lxxviii); apparently they were willing to sell only the plainest on their way out of town. Had Ten Kate arrived a day earlier, he might have secured a far more elaborate example.<BR> <BR> Ten Kate pointed out that Western Apaches were not communal horseback warriors like Plains tribes, but practiced guerilla warfare, well adapted to the mountain environments of Arizona. Apaches operated in small groups which carried out hit-and-run attacks. A thorough knowledge of the landscape, physical endurance, determination, and courage qualified young men to become respected warriors. Apaches were a hardened people because of their environment and way of life. With a clinical tone (as befits a physical anthropologist) mixed with a touch of romanticism, Ten Kate noted the Apaches' slender but muscular bodies, a gait which he compared to that of a tiger, and a piercing gaze. Many chiefs and warriors showed old scars and recent injuries. At San Carlos, Chief Loco discussed the cause of his five major wounds with the anthropologist, and Ten Kate noted that the left half of Loco's face bore the signs of heavy trauma and that he was blind in his left eye. Chiefs, called nahntáhn, had reputations based on their success in leading raids. However, authority was quickly lost when physical prowess waned, enabling ambitious young warriors to prove themselves and ascend to positions of leadership. Old Nané, and especially Loco, were cases in point. Ten Kate also encountered Eskiminzin, who had fought with Geronimo, but had turned to a quiet life of farming.<BR> In pre-reservation times, bows and arrows were used for hunting, and as weapons in raiding (to steal property) or warfare (to exact revenge by killing people). Lances and clubs were mainly offensive weapons used in war. In early times, arrows and lances were tipped with flaked stone points, replaced in later years with metal points on arrows, and long metal blades on lances, the latter sometimes made from captured Spanish, Mexican, or American cavalry sabers. A distinctly Apache style of clubs for close combat, called zendízj (Ten Kate 2004:197), was made of a spherical stone, the size of a billiard ball, sewn into a rawhide covering and attached by a flexible thong to a handle. In the late 1800s, traditional weapons were almost completely replaced by rifles and handguns, with one, and often two, ammunition belts worn around the waist.<BR> For protection, Apaches carried large, round, rawhide shields. Also worn on raids or in warfare were buckskin caps decorated with eagle, hawk or turkey feathers. Shields and caps were imbued with supernatural power to protect their owner, as were amulets and possibly painted buckskin shirts (see "Clothing: Protective and Secular" section above). By the time of Ten Kate's visit, a number of men still owned shields, and caps were still worn for protection against supernatural dangers.<BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> Pijl en boog werden gebruikt voor de jacht (Ferg 1996:45) en voor de strijd (ibid.172).<BR> Vlees vormde ongeveer 35-40% van het voedsel van de Apache. Volwassen mannen joegen met pijl en boog op beren, (edel-)herten, gaffelantilopes en bergschapen. Jongens joegen, ook met pijl en boog, op kleinere dieren zoals konijnen, ratten, eekhoorns en bepaalde vogels. De kleine dieren werden ook wel d.m.v. strikken gevangen. Er werd vooral gejaagd aan het einde van de lente, als de vrouwen tussen het planten van mais, bonen en pompoenen (in het geval men een eigen boerderij had) en het verzamelen van wilde vruchten en noten tijd hadden om huiden en vlees te verwerken, maar meer nog in de herfst wanneer grote jachtpartijden gehouden werden. Vlees en huiden waren dan op hun best en verder was er niet veel te doen (Ferg 1996:45-6).<BR> <BR> Huiden van paarden, wolven, grijze vossen, linxen, wilde zwijnen, stieren of coyotes werden gebruikt om pijlenkokers van te maken. De huid van de poema was het meest waardevol. Als de staart van een huid mooi was, werd deze er vaak aan vast gelaten als decoratie (Ferg 1996:50).<BR> De Apache maakten hun pijlpunten van wit steen of glas. Het maken van geheel houten pijlen is overgenomen van de Navajo en werd gezien als inferieur (ook door oudere Navajo). De houten pijlen werden waarschijnlijk vooral door jongens gebruikt om te oefenen. Vast staat dat Apache glazen pijlpunten zelf maakten. Daarnaast gebruikten zij gevonden pijlpunten van verschillende culturele achtergrond en uit verschillende tijden als gelukbrenger (charm) en soms als pijlpunt op een verder nieuwe pijl. (Ferg 1996:50-2). <BR> <BR> Ferg, Alan (ed.)<BR> 1996[1987]<BR> Western Apache Material Culture. The Goodwin and Guenther Collections<BR> The University of Arizona Press<BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>