Did you know that thistles are not only a great snack for your bird friends but are also used to make blow darts!
It’s true! The Cherokees use thistles and a wooden shaft to help create the dart.
First, they would harvest the thistle, and you don’t want to pick the thistle while it’s still purple, as you will see in the photo, but you want it instead to be brown. If you pick it while it’s purple, it will more than likely mold.
Now you all might be wondering why thistle? Thistle is the best material for fletching which is the feathers on a dart or arrow. However, some use cotton if necessarily.
To make the fletching, you must take a dry thistle bulb and remove the brown seed part from the pod but be sure not to remove the fluffy white down from it as that will form the fletching. Next you have to find a straight wooden rod or skewer and notch it on the top. River cane is a major source for this.
After that, take quilting thread and knot it on one end and place it inside the notch. Place the downy part of the thistle pod against the stick and wrap the thread around the downy to attach it to the wooden rod or skewer which is now your arrow.
Tie the end of the thread where the downy ends on the arrow. Roll the arrow in your hands to get rid of any loose downy or seeds and you have officially made yourself a blow dart!
Keep in mind that some might think that a hard puff of air is required to shoot a dart, but this is actually not the case at all, and all you have to have is a quick burst of air to shoot the dart off.
Information provided by the Cherokee Phoenix (The original Cherokee newspaper).
Gracie Latrelle 