"(likely) Dumb question on arrow production" Topic

Other than reading about a dozen books on LBH, I don't know a lot about the old west. Anyway, something got me thinking.
How did the plains Indians make their arrows?
It's not like they had manufacturing shops or similar.
(or did they?).

Based on some pictures I have seen "after the fact" it didn't seem like they were particular about picking them up after the fight.

Was each warrior responsible for his own? Or did they have "specialists?" I would imagine that even a small warband could go through a lot of arrows?

If they made their own – did they vary in quality?

I am no expert, but you can find piles of failed flint arrowheads near most flint locations. Arrow shafts were made during the winter by the warrior's wives.

It isn't really a dumb question, just one most people don't give much thought to. I'm not an archaeologist, but I am an anthropologist working in western Canada and I have thought about this topic a bit.

Short answer is that the production of tools and weapons was completely decentralized- people on the plains pretty well always made their own gear, including arrows. Some individuals might have developed a reputation for doing a better than average job at making tools, but any adult male could make serviceable gear as needed. In those circumstances warriors didn't have to worry much about recovering arrows, since they all knew how to make their own. Also, stone tools tend to be very sharp, but also quite fragile and they break during use. Warriors would probably opportunistically recover arrows, but expected a high proportion of breakage.

One key issue that could make recovering them more important was the availability of suitable stone for toolmaking – certain kinds work much better and the supplies are not evenly distributed. There is lots of evidence of high quality stone being quarried at specific sources and used in weapons found hundreds of miles away. It is possible that people traveled to the sources, but it is much more likely that they traded with people living closer to the quarries. There is similar trade and movement in "luxury" goods, such as shells, raw copper and pigments such as vermillion used for decoration. Shells from the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico have been found at sites in southern Alberta (which is about as landlocked as it gets in North America).

Following the establishment of the fur trade, several mass-produced metal goods from Europe and the United States started to change the logistical situation on the plains. Traders provided hatchet blades, knife blades and steel arrowheads, all of which were in demand because they were relatively durable. However, steel arrowheads soon were supplanted by firearms, making arrows relatively unimportant for hunting and warfare. At that point access to traders and commodities the traders wanted became a strategic consideration for most native groups and a driver for conflict.

So, up to 1800, assume that warriors would be effectively self sufficient for arrows, and after that arrows were increasingly obsolete and a non-issue. It is also worth keeping in mind that most fights were skirmishes – warriors would shoot, move, attack up close if it seemed like a good opportunity, or break off contact if the situation wasn't advantageous (or if they were getting low on arrows).

Raw bone is a good arrow head material and well documented world wide. It does however decay more readily than stone in some conditions.

In 1862 one of my fore bearers was trading lathe made arrowshafts to the Bannock, Salish, and Blackfoot tribes. The lathe shafts could be made much faster and better than traditional ones, were cheaper than bullets, and arrows didn't spook the game like guns did.

CoryfromMissoula, that's very interesting about the lathe made arrowshafts, I haven't heard about them as a trade item, but it makes sense to offer them where there was a market.

Do you happen to know where your forebearer got the shafts? What I mean is, were they turned out from a fairly local small factory, or were they brought in from non-local sources like steel and glass goods? I can see a local pioneer entrepreneur noticing an opportunity and setting up an operation to cash in on it, but it seems like arrow shafts would have been too high-bulk and low return to bring in from non-local sources (particularly with their selling price lower than bullets).

Also, do you know what kind of wood they were? I know arrows in western Canada were often from Saskatoon/Serviceberry bushes, but that was mainly because the plants are really common and tend to produce naturally straight sucker branches the correct size near the middle of the bushes. Lathe made shafts wouldn't have had that limitation to worry about. Anyway, it is interesting history to me, thanks for mentioning it.

Secondary question: what would the arrowheads have been at The Little Bighorn? Bone, stone, or traded metal arrowheads?

Based on a quick web search, a small number of iron arrowheads have been recovered from the battlefield with the help of metal detectors. Stone arrowheads don't seem as common, but don't show up from metal detectors either. I would be surprised if stone points weren't used as well, but it is impossible to know what the actual ratio was, due to 100+ years of people picking up souvenirs following the battle… anything easy to spot on the surface left in someone's pocket ages ago.

Thanks everyone