362-106<BR> Mohave bow and two arrows; bow: otisa (Stewart 1947:262), u'tic ( Spier 1955:8); wood, feathers, sinew, pigment; l. of bow: 140 cm., w. 4 cm.; l. of arrows: 97 cm.; ca. 1870-1880.<BR> Mohave bows, like those of all Yumans and Pimans, were generally shallow with a long and almost straight shaft, and curved tips. The preferred wood came from screw bean mesquite (Prosopis pubescens) but most were made from willow. Tips were shaped by wrapping them with wet willow bark, thrusting them in hot ashes, and subsequently forcing them in the required form. The ideal size of the bow depended on the height of its user, and the standard was the measure from the ground to the chin. Stewart (1947c:262) states that hunting bows were generally shorter, and measured between three and a half to four feet, although Spier (1955:8) doubts the validity of this dichotomy as this is not in keeping with findings among other Yuman peoples. Some bows were painted, often red in the middle, except at the grip, and black at the tips, and Stewart limits this practice to war bows. All had deer sinew string. Arrow shafts came preferably from the appropriately named arrow weed (Pluchea sericea), sometimes cane, and were about three feet long. Three trimmed feathers provided stability in flight, and this part of the shaft is sometimes painted fully, or decorated with painted dots, mostly in red and black. Arrows were held in quivers made from the hide of foxes, coyotes, wild cats, and deer. Wrist guards of bark and deer hide protected bowmen against injury. With round rawhide shields Mohave tried to deflect arrows from their torsos (Stewart 1947:262-265; Spier 1955:8-10, fig. 2a,b).<BR> This bow has its outside convex surface still covered with bark, while the concave inside surface exhibits a pattern of incised and connecting crosses, painted reddish brown. This decoration does not necessarily identify it as a weapon of war rather than hunting. Hunters formed a special class among the Mohaves, called akwak konik (hunts deer), and derived their hunting success from spiritual dreams in which they received the required skills. This group of men also played a role in warfare as sharpshooters, but this role was not regarded as specifically supernaturally sanctioned. The carving and painting of symbolic designs on hunting bows is consistent with this ideology. The fact that the bow is rather short suggests that it was made for a young boy. Around the age of ten they began to practice under the guidance of male relatives, and soon after participated in hunts (Stewart 1947; Fathauer 1954:99).<BR> The arrows are notched and self-pointed, and their shafts are decorated with red and blue spiral lines, a common design on such projectiles. They are fletched with feathers secured with sinew (cf. Mason 1894: plate xli). In a note added to the bow Ten Kate pointed out that the weapon was in good condition when acquired, but later sustained damage when handled by an "ethnographicophile Yankee."<BR> (Hovens 2008-09)<BR> <BR>