The Washington times., 1915-03-21
DOYARROW,MAKER J Z
|SL|TTLE REDMAN
At School He's F. N. Adams, But
at Home He's Way-mah.
tah.kun-eese.
By KENDRICK SCOFIELD.

BY KENDRICK SCOFIELD.
This is the story of a maker of bows
and arrows.
Yet 1t is not the tale of "Iagoo, the
great boaster-he the friend of old Ma
komis," who made a bow for Hia-
watha."
Nor is it the saga of the Ancient
Arrow-ma..er who
hrrnw rqS ms bs.dg srro% % heads heads Of sandstone.
Smoo,h and sharpened at the edges
Haro ana polished. keen and costly
FOR II chances to be the story of a
much younger bow and arrow maker
than-these two.
Way-mah-tah-kun-e is his name.
which. in the Delaware tongue. means
Little Warrior" His mother Is O-so-
lingwah. which signifies "AIways
Laughing" in the language of her peo-
pie, who are Chcrokees. His father is
the hereditary chief of the Delawarcs
for all that he sits In a modern Office
every day in a downtown office building.
where he conducts the tribal affairs OF
MS people, and Is known to many here
as Richard c. Adams, of 1867 Biitmoro
street.
Lack Smooth Finish.
In the windows of downtown store
few days ago there appeared an ex-
hibit Of bows and arrows. They lacked
the smooth finish of the modern trade
DOW which Is generally used in archery.
NO plush or leather or paint lent to
them a useless ornateness.
ana they possessed somehow an air OF
crude strength and suppleness. Tb.
marking of the tools with which they
were shaped still remained upon them
and no attempt had been made to dis
Indian boy.
The arrows however. were scrapsd
and polished their whole 1.-THE lengths.
ana their feathers were carefully select
60 70 give the shaft precisely the right
paiapce. Save that they are manifestly
OF recent manufacture. both bows and
arrows might have been the work OF
lasoo, the Boaster," and THE Ancient
Arrow Maker"
But he who fashioned the bows and
arrows of the exhibit, when found ~
his home. 1867 Biltmore street. proved to
De neither lagoo nor the ancient arrow
maker Instead he is very much an
American boy, who Is very proud of tho
iact that seven -sixteenths of the blood
IN MS veins is that of red men ances-
tors, as Is evidenced in his high check
oones. dark eyes. and black hair.
AT school he is known as Frederick
-hoohic, dilu IL fourteen years old
But at home, where he appeared in a
dark gray and black Mackinaw coat,
snort trousers. and high moccasins, he
Is Way-mah- -tah-kun-eese. and a FULL
hedged member OF the Delaware tribe.
Taught Tribal Arts.
AS hereditary chief of the Delaware
nation, Way-mah- tab -kun-eese's father
Is learned in all the tribal arts, and in
the accomplishments of a. Delaware
And it was from him that his fourteen
year-old son learned to make the
famous bow of the Defawares, and set
about duplicating them as nearly as
possible with materials which can be
obtained today.
He does not use the flint and bone
tools of his ancestors. Instead his
equipment for turning out the bows
consists mainly of a draw-knite and
penknife. and within an hour from
strip of seasoned hickory he can make
prototype OF the weapons of hiN red
forefathers. The arrows he makes also
from hickory. smoothing them with
bits OF broken glass, and balancing
them with the feathers OF wild turkeys
in lieu of the eagle quilts which were So
popular with the ancient Delawares.
Young Way-mah- -tah-kun-eese can
make any OF the several forms Of bows
which were used In his tribe before the
advent of the firearm. The type which
he Is making today Is a light, slender
feet two inches in length.
Among the other styles which he can
turn out is the wide bow for hunting
and fishing. and the "woman's bow"
which is eight feet long. and which was
used by the Delaware squaws in tribal
ed arrows the retreat Of their lords and
masters.