Cherokee artist continues tradition of blowgun making

TAHLEQUAH – Cherokee artist Danny McCarter of Tahlequah is a blowgun and blowgun dart maker. His knowledge of blowgun making and the history of its use was handed down to him by his brother Rob and Scott Rackliffe in the 1980s at the Ancient Village at the Cherokee Heritage Center. He worked there as a villager and learned how to make the blowguns using river cane for the gun and a wooden shaft and thistle for the dart. He said a skilled shooter using an 8- to 10-foot-long blowgun can hit a target 45 feet away. Cherokee people once used blowguns to hunt smaller game like birds, squirrels and rabbits.