The arrow is headed with flint or bone, and when used against the enemy is usually poisoned. The feathers are taken from the wing of the wild turkey. (See [page 1290].) When a warrior is fully armed, he has a hundred or so of these arrows in a neat quiver made of deer or cougar skin, and tastefully decorated with patterns woven in stained porcupine quills.
In an [illustration] on page 1318, the reader may see the usual costume of the Indian when equipped for battle. The portrait is that of Ee-a-chin-che-a (the red thunder) son of Black Moccasin of the Minatarees. He was at this time one of the bravest and most desperate warriors of this tribe. He has on his war-dress, with quiver slung, and shield upon his arm. “In this plight,” says Mr. Catlin, “sans headdress, sans robe, and sans everything that might be a useless encumbrance,—with the body chiefly naked, and profusely bedaubed with red and black paint, so as to form an almost perfect disguise, the Indian warriors sally forth to war.” The chief only plumes himself, and loaded with his ornaments and trophies renders himself a conspicuous target for the enemy.
The Indians are not celebrated for their skill in marksmanship, which indeed is scarcely required, as they never shoot at long ranges, like the old English bowmen. But they are wonderfully skilled in discharging a number of arrows in rapid succession, a practised archer being able to throw twenty or more in a minute while galloping at full speed.
There is a game much practised by the various tribes, by means of which this peculiar modification of skill in archery is kept at the highest pitch. The young men assemble with their bows and arrows, and each brings several articles of property which he is willing to stake on his skill, and throws one of them on the ground. When every one has thrown down his stake, the first archer advances with his bow and ten arrows clenched in his left hand. He then draws the arrows and shoots them upward as rapidly as he can, the object being to throw as many arrows as possible into the air before the first arrow has reached the ground. He who gets the greatest number simultaneously in the air wins the stakes. Some archers are so skilful that they will discharge the eighth arrow before the first has touched the ground.
We now come to the axe or tomahawk. The two figures in [illustration No. 2], page 1265, afford excellent examples of the principal forms of this weapon; namely, that which is made entirely by themselves, and that which is partly made in Europe and finished by themselves. The most primitive tomahawk is that which is made of a stone fixed to a wooden handle. Fig. 2, on the above mentioned page, shows how the head is fixed to the handle, exactly as a blacksmith fixes his punches. The stone axe-heads which are found so abundantly as relics of a bygone age, were fastened on their handles in precisely the same manner. This kind of weapon is now so rare that it is scarcely possible to procure a specimen.
The steel-headed tomahawk has in most tribes superseded that which is made of stone. Vast numbers of these steel axe-heads are made in Birmingham, and sold at a very high price to the Indians.
The form which is most valued is that which is shown in [fig. 1], page 1265. It is a “pipe-tomahawk,” the upper part of the head being formed into a pipe-bowl, and the smoke drawn through the handle, which is plentifully decorated with porcupine quills and feathers. This is specially valued by the American Indians, because it saves them the trouble of carrying a separate pipe, and is most formidable as a weapon, and in time of peace is an efficient axe for chopping firewood and similar purposes. The tomahawk is used both in close combat and as a missile, in which latter capacity it is hurled with wonderful force and accuracy of aim.
Beside these weapons, every warrior carries the scalping knife, which, with the poniard of early English times, is equally useful for war and domestic purposes. Almost without an exception every scalping knife used in North America is nothing more than a common butcher’s knife, made in Sheffield for sixpence, and sold to the Indians at the price of a horse. After all, it is perhaps the very best instrument that they could use. One of my friends, an experienced hunter, said that he discarded all his elaborate and costly hunting knives, and preferred the Sheffield butcher’s knife, which combines the advantages of strength, lightness, and the capability of taking an edge like a razor.
Every one has heard of the custom of scalping as practised by these tribes, a custom which takes the place of the preserved heads of the Dyak, and Mundurucú. When an American Indian slays an enemy, he removes the scalp as a proof of his victory. The scalp is a piece of skin, with the hair attached to it, taken from the very crown of the head, so as to exhibit that portion of the skin where the hair radiates from a centre. The size of the scalp is of no importance, provided that it only contain this indispensable mark.
Generally, the piece of skin secured is almost as large as the palm of the hand, and it is taken in the following manner. The enemy being fallen, the victor sits behind him on the ground, seizes the scalp-lock with his left hand, and with the knife makes two semicircular incisions in the skin, cutting it completely down to the bone. He then twists the scalp-lock round both his hands, puts his feet on the victim’s shoulders, and with a violent pull drags off the circular piece of skin with the hair adhering to it.