Problematic American Indian arrow

An eBay auction for this arrow recently ended:




The closing price was $265.00. The arrow was described as Mandan, 19th century, and as you can see, is apparently "authentic". I have my doubts.

First, I question the provenance. The Mandan were hit pretty hard by smallpox in the 19th century, and I don't think they were active in the Plains wars. If it isn't Mandan, maybe Lakota or one of the other eastern Plains groups? Maybe, but the arrow itself is questionable.

Secondly, the arrow looks modern. The point shows wear and oxidation typical of steel, not iron. Iron does not develop the scaly, flaky rust you see on a rake left out in the rain. Iron develops a nice, dark patina - you can see that on any old African iron artifact. Some of the "Buru" arrow points I have show that kind of rust, and based on that I've concluded that they're 20th century. The shaft appears to be parallel (possibly a dowel) and there's no raised nock, which would be typical. The sinew might be nylon. There's loads of it, and it looks thick and ribbon-like, whereas American Indian arrows have a minimum of fine sinew. Also, the feathers are awfully clean-cut. Older AI arrows look old and worn. The feathers might be turkey, and authentic older arrows from that region would have been fletched with raptor feathers.

It's 20th century, probably artificially aged. Actually, now that I look at it closer, it's obviously not an old arrow.

And yet it sold for $263... (or, it's fraud, and the seller was doing the bidding?) Prices for plains artifacts are seriously inflated. An authentic, older African arrow in better condition wouldn't have sold for a quarter of that. The lack of decent information is also affecting the market. If you want to research AI arrows, you need to turn to the archery literature. There are no thorough, contemporary books on AI archery. James Baldwin's book is not helpful; the Laubin's is good but not detailed; the Grayson book is too broad; etc... Mason's book is helpful but pretty brief.

At any rate, I have no intention of buying any authentic AI arrows any time soon.