A self-bow is constructed from a single piece of wood. In archery, it doesn’t get any more basic. In the 6-minute YouTube video below, you’ll see several members of the Hadza tribe in Tanzania demonstrate their shooting skills with their self-bows and homemade wooden arrows.
Doing his best to break through the language barrier to communicate with them is avid American bowhunter Paul Tudor Jones. (Google his name and you'll learn about how he became one of the world’s richest men, as well as his efforts in conserving large areas of Africa and his many philanthropic efforts.)
They Hadza members never shot into a foam target before, so that in itself is amazing to them. Next, they try a few of Jones’ high-tech carbon arrows, which is a challenge because the nocks on his arrows are too narrow to fit onto the thicker strings of the self-bows. This video captures the wonderful cultural exchange where the Hadza hunters watch Jones shoot his modern compound bow, then a few of them are coached into giving it a try.
It’s fascinating to observe the facial expressions on the tribe members as they try to comprehend what they are seeing. Of course, the tribe members — like the vast majority of traditional shooters — anchor for a very short period of time at full-draw, or they snap-shoot without ever settling into an anchor point. So they don’t understand why Jones holds the bowstring back for so long. And you can see their shock when seeing the incredible speed of an arrow launched from Jones’ compound.
They also have a difficult time understanding the concept of a mechanical release aid, as well as the compound bow’s left-off during the draw. And I’m not sure they ever understand the concept of a peep sight and bowsight, although a translator attempts to explain it. From what I can tell, the tribe members who try the compound are just using the arrow to aim — basically shooting instinctively as they do with their self-bows.
Of course, their style of shooting is predicated on shooting quickly, so they have super-short draw lengths and send an arrow on its way in a hurry. I mention this because it’s clear that Jones’ bow has a draw length that is way too long for them, which makes it even more difficult to draw back and shoot correctly. But kudos to them for giving it a try!
It’s clear that Jones has a deep respect for the Hadza tribe members and their traditional archery skills, and the members certainly enjoy interacting with Jones, too. Watch the video and I think you’ll agree that this is a cool connection over archery.
