Protecting a Way of Life: Royce Manuel Leads a Workshop and Demonstration on Traditional Bows and Arrows

By Keevin Lewis 

On Thursday, June 12, 2014, at the Talking Stick Visitor Center in Scottsdale, Arizona, around 60 interested people attended a bow and arrow showcase and reception highlighting a commmunity art project conceived and led by Royce Manuel (Ak-Mierl Aw-Thum). In the snapshot above, you can see community artists Chris Hughes (holding a quiver) and Jacob Butler (in the baseball cap) talking about the bows and arrows they made from trees found in their home regions. And then, of course, there were bow and arrow demonstrations for guests at the reception and, that Saturday, for interested families at a nearby park. The results were wonderful to see, as some arrows easily cleared 30 yards! 

Leading up to these events, Royce held a four-week bow and arrow workshop that focused on how to make a self bow and arrows that are good enough for hunting. The workshop targeted fathers and sons, uncles and nephews, and each participant had the opportunity to harvest wood for his own bow and gather plants for his arrows. Obsidian was provided for making arrowheads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The National Museum of the American Indian supported Royce’s project—his research into bows and arrows and other objects in the museum’s collections outside Washington, D.C., the workshop, and the reception—through the Artist Leadership Program.

You can see Royce talking about his experience at the museum and his plans for the community art workshop in a short video on the museum’s YouTube channel. For more information on other artists’ projects supported by the Artist Leadership Program, scroll through our section of the museum’s blog or visit our photo album on Facebook. Information about the program, including its goals and detailed instructions on how to apply, is available on the museum’s website. 

Keevin Lewis (Navajo) is coordinator of the Artist Leadership Program at the National Museum of the America Indian.  

Comments

This is really nice. college & university students must read this.

[George]

Great archery learning pictures!

[Manish Kataria]

Its like going back to basics & learning what our forefathers used or practiced.

Same with our food. Now we all our going back towards Organic Food.

[Jun]

Cool program to protect the culture.

[santos]

thanks for sharing.