Arrow
About this object
History of use
Used for weapon in warfare and hunting, although guns were increasingly used in warfare. Hunting was often conducted by a hunting-class among the Chokwe; there was considerable social and religious prestige associated with hunting. Chokwe peoples conducted hunts communally, whether as a village or as a group of villages banded together as one group. Collective hunts, whether by the hunting-class or by a communal group, occurred during the spring and summer, when the grass was high. Collective hunters would divide into two groups: one would light grasslands aflame and drive animals downwind, the other would capture and kill the animals fleeing. Individual hunting was also a profession. A professional hunter, known as a chianga or nyanga, would often be a small farmer in the off season. Hunters make their own arrow shafts with feathers; points are made by village blacksmith. The shape of the point on this arrow suggests a particular target or shooting context. Arrows are carried into field in a quiver of skin or woven basketwork. Arrow would have been used with bow taller than a person.
Narrative
The collector, Nellie Taylor, served as a nursing missionary (1900-1920), first with the Ovimbundu at Bihe, then with the Chokwe at luma Kasai. She belonged to a group who sponsored several missions across Central Africa from 1881-1931.
Cultural context
Hunting
Specific techniques
Physical description
Yellow brown wood shaft that has one end inserted with tang of metal arrowhead then lashed with fibre. Metal head is fan-like outward from tang with fan's corners having small square projections. From these corners, the head forms a wide point. Shaft's butt end is notched and whipped with fibre. Short cut pieces of a dark brown feather and fibre-lashed vertically around shaft's circumference, some of which are white-spotted.
Date Made
Before 1920
Date Acquired
12 Jan 1979
How Acquired
Donated
Credit Line
Measurements
Overall: 74.9 cm x 3.4 cm x 3.4 cm
Object Number
Ac234