Afterwards we’ll see how many related game-playing concepts I can pull out of my bum.
Native Americans
There are currently over 200 federally recognized tribes, and many more that are unrecognized. In pre-Columbus days, there were many more. I have grouped many together by region, but remember that, like neighboring countries, these tribes were each unique with their own laws, taboos, and styles.
Pacific Northwest Tribes
(Macah, Wakashan, Chimacu, Quileutte, Hoh, Clallum, Skagit, Snohomish, Swinomish, Lummi, Semiahmoo, Duwamish, Muckelshoot, Nisqually, Puyallup, Sahewamish, Snoqualmie, Suquamish, Queets, Quinault, Clatsop, Chinook, Cathlamet, Chilucckittequa, Clackamas, Wasco, Klickitat, Yakima, Clatskarie, Kwalhioqua, Karuk, Shasta, Wiyot, Yurok, Siletz, Tillamook, Chastacosta, Chetco, Talushtuntude, Tututni, Umpqua, Chilula, Hupa, Whilcut, Tolowa) Thuja: Bows
Pacific Yew: Bows, war paddles, and clubs, spear handles.
Mockorange: bows and arrows .
Cedar: Chinook used and traded for cedar to make highly elastic bows and Californian and Oregonian tribes used cedar to make war clubs and arrows as well.
Alder: used by Alaskan warriors for arrows and bows.
Rock Maple: Inuit Bows.
Black Cottonwood: glue to attach feathers to arrows.
Yucca: The strong, stringy filament (fiber), that run a course from the needle tip, down the margin of the leaf, was used by native Americans for making into garments and possibly the treating of war wounds.
Kelp: Kwakuitl and other shore tribes used tubes in pre-war rituals.
NW Plateau Tribes
(Cayuse, Molalla, Klickitat, Nez Perce, Palouse, Wanapam, Tenino, Tygh, Umatilla, Wallawalla, Yakama, Lillooet, Shuswap, Thompson, Doeur d’Alene, Columbia, Methow, Wenatchee, Kalispel, Pend d’Orielle, Salish, Colville, Okanogan, Sanpoil, Spokane) Larch: Bows.
Amelanchier: Spears for Okanagan-Colville Indians.
Camas: The need for the Camas plant enticed Chief Joseph and the Nez Perces to leave the reservation to collect them, leading to the Chief Joseph War.
Juniper: Used by Okanagan-Colville. Pounded branches, berries and water used to soak arrowheads and render them poisonous. Later they did the same to bullets.
Yucca: The strong, stringy filament (fiber), that run a course from the needle tip, down the margin of the leaf, was used by native Americans for making into garments and possibly the treating of war wounds.
The Californian Tribes
(Pomo, Yahi, Yana, Maidu, Wintu, Yokuts, Costanoan, Miwok, Wappo, Yuki, Huchnom, Gabrielino, Kitanemuk, Serrano, Vanyume, Cahuilla, Cupeño, Juaneño, Luiseño, Diegueño) Mahogany: Bows, arrows; Mendocino used mahogany for fighting clubs and war spears.
Elderberry: Bows.
Hazelnut: Bows.
Chamise: Bows, arrow shafts; gum used as glue for fletching and arrowheads.
Mockorange: Bows and arrows.
Oceanspray: Arrows.
Ninebark: Arrows.
Redshank: Arrowheads.
Stinging Nettle: Bow string.
Alder Shoots: Arrows, Young shoots make arrows for the Mendocino.
Apocynum: Luiseño slings.
Arrowweed: Arrowshafts.
Juniper: Bow.
Desert Almond: Clubs, throwing sticks.
Desert Willow: Bows.
Giant Wildrye: Fire-hardened for arrows.
Indian Hemp: Bowstrings and slings.
Pinon Pine: Glue for arrowheads, other pines used by Yuki to glue feathers on body in war.
Telegraphweed: Tall stems to make arrows.
Honey Mesquite: Gum to make arrows, Limbs for bows.
Woolypod Milkweed: Bowstrings and slings.
Horse Chestnut: Bows for Poma and Kashaya tribes.
Agave: Pounded leaves made bowstrings for Cahuilla.
Saltbush: Used as poison as arrow points by Kawaiisu.
Baccharis: Mendocino used to make stone-tipped war arrows. Kawaiisu used burned plant to make gunpowder.
Great Basin Tribes
(Koso, Western Shoshone, Paiute, Lohim)The nomadic tribes did not hold any plants in particular for weaponry.
Southwestern Tribes
(Cocopa, Halykwami, Havasupai, Hualapai, Kamia, Halchidhoma, Maricopa, Mojave, Yavapai, Yuma, Tano, Tewa, Piro, Tiwa, Jemez, Pecos, Hopi, Keres, Zuni, Apache) Desert Agave: Bowstrings, stalk was used as lance shaft for Western Apache.
Apache Plume: Arrow shafts.
Chokecherry: Wood backed with sinew to make bow.
Common Reed: Arrows and associated with arrows ceremonially.
Oak: Bows, war clubs, especially for Navajo and Tewa.
Giant Sandreed: Bows, arrows.
Honey Mesquite: Arrow Shafts.
Giant Hyssop: Arrow Shafts.
Juniper: Wood backed with sinew to make bow.
Osage orange: Bows.
Rocky Mountain Maple: Bows.
Sumac: Bows.
Mahogany: Arrow points.
Serviceberry: Bows, arrows.
Currant: Bows, arrow shafts by Havasupai.
Yucca: Ramah Navajo used sap of yucca to make poison for arrowtips (hemolytic).
Greasewood: Havasupai used it to make war bows.
Rubber Rabbitbush: Takes easily broken poison arrows for Isleta tribe.
Wolfberry/Desertthorn: Zuni, ground plant used to protect warriors during combat.
Rocky Mountain Maple: Trunks used to make bows.
Saltbush: Used as poison arrow points by Isleta, ideal for war because points broke easily when attached to bamboo shafts.
Baccharis: Papago used to make stone-tipped war arrows.
Deserthorn: Used to make bows by Papago. Used by Hopi to infer protection before war.
White River Coraldrops: Besseya, Lotion from plant applied to Navajo warriors while hunting and in war.
Creosotebush: Used by Papago as arrowshafts.
Mulberry: Apache and Mescalero considered it best for war bows.
Opuntia: Thorn coverings of Tree Cactus eaten by Keres Pueblo tribal men to strengthen them before war. Navajo used prickly pear juice as glue for decorations on a war shirt.
Great Plains Tribes
(Blackfeet, Sioux, Comanche, Crow, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Arikara, Mandan, Pawnee, Wichita) Pre-Columbian Plains were virtually uninhabited except for nomadic Apacheans wandering from Canada to the Southwest and possibly the Pawnee and Witchita tribes following the rivers. Later, when tribes moved onto the Great Plains, they had to work with the plants they found.
Prairie Sandreed: was used by the Lakota as a decoration, the plant top worn on the head as a war charm.
Bouteloua curtipendula: Sideoats Grama, a grass used by Kiowa Warriors who, in battle, had killed an enemy with a lance. Worn in the hair.
Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis): Before going into battle each Cheyenne man chewed a little of it and rubbed it over his body, arms and legs to impart strength, energy, and dash, which would, they believed, protect them from danger.
Lichen: (Evernia vulpina): portion carried carefully in small buckskin bag by the Apache. [As paint] considered a charm when applied to the face. A cross of this color on the feet enables them to pass their enemies unseen.
Eastern Woodland Tribes
(Illinois, Miami, Menominee, Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Foxes, Kickapoo, Sac, Shawnee, Abnaki, Pennacook, Penobscot, Mahican, Passamaquoddy, Massachuset, Micmac, Mohegan, Pequot, Montauk, Pocomtuc, Wappinger, Conoy, Nanticoke, Narragansett, Nauset, Niantic, Nipmuk, Wampanoag, Chowanoc, Hatteras, Machapunga, Moratok, Pamilco, Powhatan, Weapmeoc, Delaware, Iroquois, Cherokee (pre-Columbus)) Box Elder, Maples: Ojibwe used to make arrows.
Cornus: Dogwood and Blackgum (Nyssa) used by Chippewa to make war clubs.
Asclepias (Milkweed): fibers used to make bowstrings by Cherokee.
Giant Cane: Cherokee, Choctaw, Houma, Seminole used to make arrow shafts and blowdart guns, once used by Cherokee to make knives for ritual suicide during the smallpox epidemic of 1738. Seminole also used it to make knives and bows and war spears.
Holly: Seminole arrows.
Hickory: Bows.
Osage Orange: Bow wood for the Osage Indians.
Witch Hazel: Wood used by southeastern woodland tribes to make bows and arrow shafts.
Locust: Bows and blow darts.
Cabbage Palmetto: Arrows.
Hickory: For blowgun darts and arrow shafts.
Spanish moss: For tinder arrows.
Switchcane: Blowguns, young shoots for arrow shafts.
Pine: The tribes of the Iroquois League at one time were fighting with one another. There were fierce battles, but the people grew tired of the fighting. So they agreed to bury their weapons under a giant white pine tree. They believed that the weapons would be carried away by the underground waters. So they sent the weapons off through the path of the roots. The weapons went in all four directions. After that, the tribes no longer fought. Instead, they formed the Iroquois League.
Cattail: Fuzz was used by Ojibwa as blinding powder against enemies; also used as war medicine.
Culver’s Root: Throughout its growing region, Culver's root served as a purgative and reviver. It was an important part of medicine bags and war bundles.
New England aster (Aster novae-angliae): Asters in general were used for wounds, either burned and placed over a wound or powdered and placed in the wound. A tea of the whole plant was used for arrow wounds; cotton or other absorbent material was dipped into the tea and pushed into the wounds.
Eryngium: Eryngo used by Creek as “War Physic.”
Birch: Maine Indians used birch bark as armor.
Aralia nudicaulis (wild sarsaparilla): Indians would eat the roots during times of war or long hunting excursions.
Ilex vomitoria: made the Cherokee warrior vomit, thus cleansing him for battle.
Arisaema: Jack-in-the-pulpit, the Meskwaki tribe near the Mississippi River used this plant to poison meat and leave it in abandoned containers for their enemies to find.
Ginseng: Menominee used root in war bundles.
Virginia Creeper: Kiowa used juice as pink paint for skin and feathers during War Dance.
Multi-Territorial Tribes or Non-Specific Information
Amelanchier shoots: arrows for Blackfoot, Gosiute, Karok, Dakota, Lakota, Havasupai, Mendocino, Montana, Okanagan-Colville, Omaha, Ponca, Shuswap, Thompson, Shasta, Winnebago, and occasionally the Coast Salish. Hopi used it for both bows and arrows and the Kawaiisu used it to make arrows and gun cleaners. The Pit River Indians used the Amelanchier to make armor.
Apocynum: Spreading dogbane or Indian Hemp, Bow strings: Menominee, Luiseño, Shuswap.
Devil’s Club: Ashes mixed with grease and used as black face paint, gives warrior supernatural power.
Saw Palmetto: Native Americans viewed saw palmetto as a warrior medicine and it has been used historically to keep men in shape for fighting.
Green Ash: Bows, arrows.
Sunflowers: used as energy cakes for Native American Warriors to combat fatigue.
Arurndinaria gigantea: Switchcane, Used to make blowguns and arrowshafts.
Bitternut hickory: Bows.
Cedar: Used for lance shafts and bows. The root of goldenseal helped Native Americans dye their skin and weapons as well as clothing.
Balsamroot Roots: Burned as incense before a battle to bring good luck.
Hydrastis: Arrow wounds. War paint for face.
Lachnanthes: Redroot when crushed the root "bleeds" a reddish dye. Indians used the dye for coloring fabrics and as face paint. Intricate patterns were painted on horses to prepare them for battle.
Osage Orange: Much used by many tribes for bows and war clubs.
Yew and Box: Both are known for killing a horse within five hours; killing a warrior’s horse is sometimes worse than killing the warrior himself.
Nettles: Used by Pawnee, Omaha, Dakota, Winnebago, and Ponca as cloth for Sacred Bundle of the Tent of War.
Native American Archery
The tribes were proficient with bows long before Europeans ever came to the east coast of America. They used both wooden bows (made of one piece of wood) and composite bows (made of multiple woods and/or other substances). In the woodlands, smaller lighter bows were used and on the plains were heavier long-range bows. The most common types were longbows and flat bows, with some being composite and others being self bows (made out of one piece of wood.
On the West Coast, the bow choice was yew, although juniper, hickory and ash were also used. They were wide, flat bows often with a narrowed handle. They could range anywhere from 36 inches to 56 inches and many were sinew-backed. In the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin, ash, yew from the west, and mountain mahogany or chokecherry was used. They also made composite bows with bighorn sheep or buffalo horns due to a lack of good wood. Eastern Indians, although they often used smaller bows in the forest, were also known for having long bows and they could be anywhere from 42 to 70 inches in length. The Cherokee laid out their locust bows so the belly was sapwood and the backing was hard. Along the northern Mississippi, the local tribes made flat, rectangular self bows of ash, black locust, or osage orange from further south. Bows averaged at 50 inches in length and usually had scalloped edging along the entire right side, with paintings. Further south osage orange becomes a mainstay, as well as hickory.
Unique Types of Native American Bows
The Californian Longbow: The long bow's stave is semi-circular in cross section. Wood has been shaved from its belly to make it flat, and its back is essentially untouched. The nock is simply a narrowed end. The length of the bow is about 56 to 60 inches; its width at the grip is around 3 inches, with a thickness of 1 inch. Eighteen inches from the end, it narrows slightly until the tip, where the width is 1-1/4 inches, and the thickness is a half- to a quarter-inch.
The California bow was wrapped on its six-inch grip area and the there is red dye or paint on its backside.
Cordage-backed bows: The Inuit used cordage backing for 2 reasons. Very little good bow wood was available so whatever material they used for their bows had to be backed. Furthermore it was very difficult to make hide glue under Arctic Circle conditions. They had a very limited fuel supply and no big containers. In the Southwest several Apache bands also made cordage-backed bows and one possible, albeit remote connection is that they are all part of the Athabaskan language group.
The final dimensions of the bow are around 50–60 inches between the knocks. The cross sections are flattened ovals (semi-ellipses) with the belly side considerably flatter than the back. Absolutely nothing was done to the back except bark removal and light sanding. The bow is about 90% sapwood. Often Native American bows were made from green wood, probably a holdover from the days when they had to use stone tools for bowmaking. Greenwood is a lot softer than dry seasoned wood and consequently easier to cut with a stone tool.
They had many ways of adding the cording. Some made the nocks of the bow very deep and then passed the cord back and forth between the nocks. Other examples used "half hitches" about an inch below the nocks. The cord was secured to the bow limbs at several places (1–20) between the nocks and handle section. The one universal factor in all designs is that the sinew cordage is under great tension when the bow was in use. Typically this was done by inserting a little toggle into the cord and twisting until it was tight. The cord was then bound in place and the toggle removed. After shooting, the binding was removed to relieve the tension on the cord.
After drying and adding the cording, the bow drew around 25 inches and pulled 42 pounds.
Draw weights: I know…why should it matter? It does though. A beginner, as you can see below, pulls less than someone who’s more experienced. The arrow won’t go in as deep and therefore does less damage. This should be added to a beginner’s haphazard aiming skill. In other words, unless a beginner has a critical success of some kind, his shot will not be lethal.
Recommended Draw Weights
Beginner’s Draw Weight = 35–40 lb.
More Advanced Weight = 45+ lb.
Target/field for tournament shooting = 35–45 lb.
Hunters = 45–55 lb.
Average draw lengths compared to the length of bow:
| Draw Length | Bow Length |
| Below 24 Inches | 60-64 Inches |
| 25-26 Inches | 65-66 Inches |
| 27-28 Inches | 67-68 Inches |
| 29 Inches or More | 69-70 Inches |
Examples of how bow material and construction technique further influence the power.
A 61-inch California Bay bow pulls around 44 lb. at 28 inches.
A 64-inch Osage bow pulls around 48 lb. at 28 inches.
A 78-inch Pecan bow pulls around 56 lb. at 28 inches.
A 48-inch sinew-backed Black Locust bow pulls 32 lb. at 20 inches to 42 at 28 inches.
A 63-inch Red Oak bow pulls around 56 lb. at 28 inches.
Blowguns
The Cherokee used blowguns, mostly for hunting but occasionally in warfare. Sometimes the Cherokee would use poison darts, created either with specific poisonous plants or by having a rattlesnake bit into meat, and then dipping the darts into the poisoned meat. The blowgun was made from rivercane up to eight feet in length. The darts were bits of wood with cattail fluff as stabilizers.
Atlatls
The atlatl was most likely introduced across the Bering Strait bridge and spread south along the coastline to Mexico. The word atlatl is from Aztec, meaning “water-thrower” and it was used for fishing. The Aztecs used the atlatl extensively in their war against the conquistadores. South Floridan native tribes historically used it, and the Shoshone of the Great Basin as well.
War Spears
Spears were one of the first types of weapons. A spear was between 5–6 feet in length and could be thrown or thrust from a horse or from a standing position. A lance was longer and heavier, 6–feet in length and was used for thrusting. Spear and lance tips were normally latched to the shaft with rawhide and/or sinew, and made of wood, bone, or stone until forged iron tips were introduced by the French and English fur traders. The Plains tribes also developed “coup sticks.” Counting coup was a nonlethal way to gain “points” against the enemy. Each tap was marked with notches or feathers, and a warrior that allowed coup to be counted against them was made to look weaker.
Tomahawks
Traditionally made of hickory and found east of the Mississippi; the name came from the Algonquin tribes of Virginia. Generally less than 2 feet in length with a cutting edge of about 4 inches, it was used in melee combat or thrown short distances.
GAME PLAY AND HOOKS
I noticed over the years of editing that nearly every setting I’ve read has a primitive society that is based after Native American tribal life. Although the average character, upon seeing a warrior with a bow, will not be concerned about the wood a weapon is made from, this information becomes important when trading or living with a tribal community, or portraying a tribal member accurately in a game.
GM Plot Hooks
The PCs are heading into a new territory and come across a stand or supply of one of the above resources. The tribal members could be angry that the PCs are there (especially if they trash the place), or the tribal NPCs could show up at the exact same spot to harvest said resource.
A tribe could use poison arrow tips or abandon poison food in a container. Only knowledgeable PCs would be able to prepare for said possibility.
In the event that the PCs get involved out in the Plains, they could find themselves having coup counted on them or vice versa.
Here’s your run-down:
Pacific Northwest, from Coastal down to Oregonan/Californian: Sedentary hunters/fishers/gatherers, occasionally went to war, traded extensively, very capitalistic, traded for and kept slaves.
GMs: Important figure for PCs held as a slave; happenchance meeting turns into trade-fest.
PCs: If they have someone they need to get rid of, they can take him there to become slave.
Characters: A Pacific Northwest tribal member would not see slavery as wrong and be very capitalistic.
Northwest Plateau: Semi-sedentary, fishing and buffalo important, communal, traded extensively.
GMs: Needs many supplies to survive, will trade for them for meat, safe passage, etc.
PCs: Foreknowledge allows the party safe passage, guides, etc.
Characters: Survivalists, hunter, guide.
Californian: Peaceful, semi-sedentary hunter/gatherers, communal, traded extensively.
GMs: Friendly, looking for good deals, mistrust easily assuaged by opportunity to trade.
PCs: Likely to get in good with tribe as long as deals are made.
Characters: Little more laidback. Calmer, friendlier.
Great Basin: Nomadic foragers, communal, not extensive traders, the basin is sparsely populated. Generally peaceful except Northern Paiute. Southern Paiute were often raided by more southerly tribes for slaves.
GMs: finding a tribe rare; if party is lost, could be welcomed sight. Tribe careful and hesitant to be friendly. Northern Paiute warred with Washoe closer to Lake Tahoe.
PCs: Need to find one of rare tribal communities to survive journey. In Southern Paiute village when slave raid occurs.
Characters: More distrustful than friendly; hesitant to settle down. Former experience as slave possible.
Southwestern: Sedentary hunter/farmers, advanced potters and basket-weavers, bellicose tribes used clubs as favorite weapons, but as a region tribes were mainly considered peaceful until after reservations were started.
GMs: Pueblo and other tribes have available food in desert, can save PCs if needed or offer trade. More violent tribes attack and/or enslave.
PCs: Avoid the violent tribes to get to the peaceful ones, must bring highly selective gifts to establish trade.
Characters: More skilled at melee (club) if from more violent tribes; very religion-oriented if from more peaceful tribes.
Texas: In pre-Columbian era, the southern end of Texas contained cannibals, very violent shaman-based tribes called the Tonkawan, Karankawan, and Coahuiltecan.
GMs: Cannibals… how much more fun can you have? Even in latter-era scenarios, you could have a group show up.
PCs: Any knowledgeable PCs would avoid the area and would need one heck of a good reason to go that far south.
Characters: Probably not a good idea, but if you’re going to make one, make one as bloodthirsty and vicious as possible.
Woodlands: From the Northeastern Woodlands to southern Florida, the tribes in this region were known for constant fighting and coup-counting. Those around the Mississippi region eventually moved into the Plains. Many were originally sedentary farmers and most practiced polygamy.
GMs: First encounters most likely with these tribes. Very war-oriented, in pre-Columbian era, more likely to kill. First contact scenarios, may get lucky with some fairness, but later meetings less likely to go so well. Likely to take prisoners.
PCs: PCs in forts and villages more likely to be attacked, travelers in small groups can possible make deals for safe passage. May have to leave someone behind.
Characters: These are the warriors and fighters, skilled in melee combat and thrown weapons. Very “justice” oriented… their justice, not European justice. Not trusting after a few decades.
Great Plains: After Native Americans moved to Plains with horses and lances, they were warlike and battle-oriented. Honor in defeating opponent through wrestling or hand-to-hand.
GMs: Once they had horses and scouts, most likely PCs will be unable to pass without one band finding them. Challenge them to HtH combat.
PCs: Must get through Great Plains to head West and attacks likely. Accepting a challenge would likely garner respect even if PC loses, although a lost fight might make tribal members believe the loser owes them something.
Characters: Highly skilled at horseback riding, fighting from horse, and hand-to-hand/melee combat. Proud, “fierce.”
Coming Up Next: Plants in Warfare during the Medieval era and Renaissance
