Re: Question about bows and arrows

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: : : All,

: : : I'm plowing through Cooper's book, enjoying it greatly.  I noticed during the elk hunt that Cooper has Uncas shooting the elk with a bow and arrow, and has referred to the use of bows and arrows a couple other times so far. I noticed there are any bows and arrows in Mann's film.  Does anyone know why?  Are bows and arrows a thing of old Hollywood and not modern films of Indians or perhaps they would not have fit his idea of what it all needed to look like?  Thoughts, anyone?

: : : Thanks,
: : : Sarah
: : __________
: :  
: :  Sarah
: :  
: : A sad but true note to this question. First, by 1700, most of the woodland Indians had lost the knowledge to make stone points. Why? Because steele trade points were so common they quickly replaced stone points. Not to say they didn`t use them.  In an 1820`s interveiw with an elderly warrior, he told the interviewer that he never saw his father or his grand father make stone points. They just found them on the ground like everyone else. 
: :  But Mann may not have been wrong in not putting any bows and arrows in his movie. In some North Eastern tribes, they adopted the musket so fast that they gave up using the bow all together. They became so dependent on they white mans goods that when they couldn`t get powder or ball, for their muskets, they nearly starved.
: :  Hope this answers your question.

: : Clabair

: Clabair,

: Thanks for the info.  I'm not surprised to read what you've said, judging by what I've been reading about the white man's actions (esp. with regards to arms) since first encountering the Indians.  

: Interesting how Hollywood has indoctrinated us with the idea of the native savages who don't have the wherewithall to handle "modern" weaponry, and yet it appears that the Indians became masters of our weapons.  That and our languages.  Magua and the Sachem were speaking French better than I'll ever be able to (being linguistically challenged as I am).  

: Anyway, thanks for the historical update.

: Cheers,
: Sarah


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