Addressing the "Comanche Archery" in the new Predator 5 (Prey) trailer. Is it good?

Hello, my name is Pan Saltz Caballeratos. As the new trailer of the upcoming movie "Prey" (Predator 5) came out, many people from the archery community reacted to the archery depicted in there. My friend Miko_Archer convinced me to address the matter and give our contribution about the Native American archery styles. He already uploaded his video in his channel and you can watch it by clicking on the link below :

   • Predator prey, хищник охота, стрельба...  

In this video, I am making a traditional bow and arrows, as I was taught by my father that was confirmed later in life by other people as well. By recreating such a bow and studying the traditional ways of shooting, I am able to recreate the lost art of fast and accurate archery by the Indigenous nations all across the Turtle Island continent (America). The king of fast archery Lars Andersen made a video about the Comanche archery. People misunderstood and thought that ONLY the Comanche nation was capable of these skills, when in fact, this art was well spread among all tribes. In the video I am briefly explaining some factors on why only the Comanche are credited with such skill. They were the last frontier, they had enough time to know what these invaders wanted from them and they got access to horses. The tank, the super weapon of the era. They were ready, they were prepared and they were determined to defend themselves in ways that other tribes didn't have the chance. Only them being credited with such skills is a misconception and the art should simply be known as "Native American short bow archery". You can watch Lars' video by clicking on the link below :

   • Lars Andersen: Recreating Comanche Ar...  

Warning, this is just ONE of the styles and bows used by the tribes. I do not claim that my way is the only way nor do I say that this bow was the only type of bow made. But what I am saying is that THIS bow was the most common and well spread. It's way of being used and created reveals the mentality of the unified Amerindian civilization. You make extra steps to keep trees alive, so you take as little as possible from them. You get to create a bow that can shoot anything, even nockless arrows made on the spot by random sticks. Even if not the best wood is available, you still get to make a functional bow, as the technique used to shoot won't break it. As many tribes entered into alliances with European factions, they started being treated as primitive so their traditional weapons were replaced with firearms and metal. Such archery skills takes a lot of practice and if they are abandoned even for a little bit, distance is made and the art gets forgotten. The great warriors who held these skills wouldn't survive to teach their arts to the new generations. The mentality of a warrior is indomitable so it's only natural that those people held their ground to the bitter end. And their stories survive as legends about how good they were. What I am actually doing in this video is that I recreate these skills to prove them real. I am definitely not the BEST but my contribution is good enough to prove some points. There are many videos out there analyzing this historical archery and they did a lot of hard work to make them. So it's better if you watch their videos and get well informed about the subject. The following link shows Join Willie Pekah explain this traditional art :

   • Native Cultural Arts: Comanche Bow an...  

A very professional, educated and talented archer gives more historical records in his videos . His channel is called "ryddragyn". Click on the links below to watch and learn :

   • Plenty Coups' Archery Techniques  

   • Plains Indian Bow - Draw Force Curve  

What the new trailer shows keeps getting proven by everyone as completely impractical and not accurate to the slightest. With such a big budget they could do the slightest research and promote something real, something authentic. Instead of "de powah of de wahman wins it all". I think they got confused by the Ishi shooting style. But again, the Ishi style in practice and theory looks nothing alike. These following videos shed light on this style and are very informative. Click on the links to watch them :

rydraggyn (channel)
   • What would Ishi have thought of Asiat...  

Primitive Pathways (channel)
   • How to Shoot a Bow Ishi Style (HD)  

The only difference with what these talented archers showed in their videos compared to what I do is that I manage to use NOCKLESS arrows. So my conclusion is that this new movie lost a great opportunity to promote real skills and real history. But of course, I guess it's just a movie. Still, they give US the opportunity to make videos like this. So, cheers and enjoy.


Video editing, recording, music, narration, performance : - Pan Saltz Caballerato (Panagiotis Saltzis Kavalieratos).

License :
Everything seen in this video was either created by me or falls under Fair Use or I was allowed to show their clips by the creators themselves.