Fig. 185.—Heart-shaped flint pile.
The only variations of importance in these arrows are in the shape of the pile, which is made of black or gray flint, or less often of jasper, mostly variegated, brown and gray. There are four patterns to be found in the series of eight arrows and twenty-two stone piles. The first is long and narrow, like No. 56704 [232], Fig. 183, from Utkiavwĭñ, which is of gray flint. The next is similar in shape, but shorter, as shown in Fig. 182 (No. 89240 [25], from Nuwŭk), which is only 2 inches long, exclusive of the tang. The third pattern, which is less common than the others, is about the size of the last, but rhomboidal in shape (Fig. 184, No. 56691c [64c], from Utkiavwĭñ, of dark grayish brown flint, rather coarsely flaked). The fourth kind is very short, being not over 1½ inches, including the half-inch tang, but is 1 inch broad, thick and convex on both faces. It is triangular, with a square base and curved edges (Fig. 185, No. 56702b [113b], from Utkiavwĭñ, newly made for sale).
Fig. 186.—Arrows: (a) Arrow with “after-pile” (ipudlĭgadlĭñ); (b) arrow with iron pile (savidlĭñ); (c) arrow with iron pile (savidlĭñ); (d) arrow with copper pile (savidlĭñ); (e) deer-arrow (nûtkodlĭñ).
No stone arrow or dart heads made by these people have anything like barbs except the square shoulders at the base. They seem never to have attained to the skill in flint-working which enabled many other savages to make the beautiful barbed heads so often seen. To keep the flint-headed arrow from dropping out of the wound they hit upon the contrivance of mounting it not directly in the stele but in a piece of bone upon which barbs could be cut, or, as is not unlikely, having already the deer arrow with the barbed head of antler, they added the flint head to this, thus combining the penetration of the flint arrow with the holding power of the other. I was at first inclined to think that this piece of bone bore the same relation to the rest of the arrow as the fore shaft of many Indian arrows, and was to be considered as part of the stele. Considering, however, that its sole function is to furnish the pile with barbs, it evidently must be considered as part of the latter. I shall designate it as “after-pile.” Arrows with this barbed “after-pile” form the second kind of bear arrows, which are called ipudlĭ´gadlĭñ (“having the ipu´dlĭgɐ” [Gr. ipuligak, the similar bone head of a seal lance with iron tip]). After the introduction of iron, metal piles sometimes replaced the flint in arrows of this kind. We collected eight with flint and two with metal piles. No. 72787 [234a], Fig. 186a, has been selected to illustrate this form of arrow. This pile is of gray flint with the tang wedged by a slip of sealskin into the tip of the after-pile, which is cleft to receive it and kept from splitting by a whipping of sinew. The after-pile is fitted into the tip of the stele with a rounded sharp-pointed tang, slightly enlarged just above the tip. It is of reindeer antler. The rest of the arrow does not differ from those previously described. The stele is of pine and is feathered with three gyrfalcon feathers.
Two others from Sidaru have only a single barb on the after-pile, but the other four have two, one behind the other on the same side. No. 89237 [164], from Utkiavwĭñ, differs in no respect from the single-barbed flint arrows from Sidaru, but No. 72763 [164], from the same village, has four small barbs on the after-pile, which is unusually (nearly 7 inches) long, and a pile of sheet brass. This has the basal angles on each side cut into three small, sharp, backward-pointing teeth. The total length of this arrow is 28 inches.
The after-piles of all arrows except one were of reindeer antler, which is another reason for supposing that this form of arrow is a modification of the deer arrow. After the introduction of iron, this metal or copper was substituted for the flint pile of the kukĭ´ksadlĭñ, making the third and last form of bear arrow, the sa´vĭdlĭñ (“fitted with iron”). This arrow differs from the others only in the form of the pile, which is generally broad and flat, and either rhomboidal, with the base cut into numerous small teeth, or else triangular, with a shank. The barbs are usually bilateral.
No. 72758 [25], from Nuwŭk, represents the first form. The pile is of iron, rough and flat, 2½ inches long. No. 72770 [241b], from Utkiavwĭñ, is of the same form. No. 72760 [165], Fig. 186c, from Utkiavwĭñ, has a similar pile 3.3 inches long, but has each of the under edges cut into four sharp, backward-pointing teeth. No. 72778 [234b], Fig. 186d, has a pile of sheet copper 2.3 inches long, of the same shape, but with six teeth. This arrow came from Sidaru. No. 72765 [25], from Nuwŭk, is a long, narrow iron pile with three bilateral barbs, all simple.