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OLD NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN BOW

Justin Farmer, JUSTIN FARMER FOUNDATION, an Ipai Northern Diegueño Indian, holds an old Indian bow cave relic from his collection. The old Native American Indian bow artifact was discovered in the mid 1900s (ca. 1950s) in an undisturbed cave along Malibu Canyon, the southeastern limit of historic Chumash territory that borders the ancestral Gabrielino lands. Some of the bow's bottom tip appears missing.

Justin Farmer said he acquired the old California longbow in the mid 1980s from another collector, and has since sold it, along with his entire collection, to the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians for the Pechanga Cultural Center on the Pechanga Indian Reservation in Southern California.

A Native American expert and book author on California Indian artifacts, Justin Farmer estimates the Native bow's age somewhere between 500 and 1,000 years old. He said the old longbow has remnants or traces of red ocher dye or paint or pigment or mineral on its backside.

The ancient California bow also shows signs of having some type of wrapping on its six-inch grip area due to the grip's lighter (less exposed) color compared the rest of the bow surface.

Similar to the Andres Albañes bow pictured in this bow series, the Justin Farmer antique California long bow's stave is semi-circular in cross section. Wood has been shaved from its belly to make it flat, and its back essentially untouched.

Also, the nock is simply a narrowed end.

Remaining length of the bow is 56-5/8 inches; its width at the grip is 2-1/16 inches; thickness, 1 inch.

At 18 inches from the end, it narrows slightly to 2 inches wide, 15/16 inches thick. By 4 inches before the tip, the width is 1-1/4 inches, the thickness is 7/16 inches. At the tip the thickness is 1/4 inch.

Justin Farmer is a well-known book author, collector, and authority on California Indian artifacts. He founded the JUSTIN FARMER FOUNDATION.

For Paul Campbell's complete documentation on Native American bow making, including detailed history on California Indian bows arrows, please see his highly-recommended book:

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Photos and text courtesy of Paul D. Campbell, author of SURVIVAL SKILLS OF NATIVE CALIFORNIA, where the KUMEYAAY.INFO excerpted material was originally published. Paul's book features living (and deceased) Native American California Indigenous people, and details their traditional weapons used for hunting and aboriginal survival methods...Paul's book is available at Shumup Ko Hup Indian store WEBSITE HOWKA.COM


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