Original Item: Only One Available. A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe native to the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America, traditionally resembling a hatchet with a straight shaft. The term came into the English language in the 17th century as an adaptation of the Powhatan (Virginian Algonquian) word.

Tomahawks were general-purpose tools used by Native Americans and later the European colonials with whom they traded, and often employed as a hand-to-hand weapon. The metal tomahawk heads were originally based on a Royal Navy boarding axe (a lightweight hand axe designed to cut through boarding nets when boarding hostile ships) and used as a trade-item with Native Americans for food and other provisions.

The Algonquians created the tomahawk. Before Europeans came to the continent, Native Americans would use stones, sharpened by a process of knapping and pecking, attached to wooden handles, secured with strips of rawhide. The tomahawk quickly spread from the Algonquian culture to the tribes of the South and the Great Plains.

Native Americans created a tomahawk’s poll, the side opposite the blade, which consisted of a hammer, spike or a pipe. These became known as pipe tomahawks, which consisted of a bowl on the poll and a hollowed out shaft. These were created by European and American artisans for trade and diplomatic gifts for the tribes.

The tomahawk's original designs were fitted with heads of bladed or rounded stone or deer antler.

According to Mike Haskew, the modern tomahawk shaft is usually less than 2 ft (61 cm) in length, traditionally made of hickory, ash, or maple. The heads weigh anywhere from 9 to 20 oz (260 to 570 g), with a cutting edge usually not much longer than four inches (10 cm) from toe to heel. The poll can feature a hammer, spike, or may simply be rounded off, and they usually do not have lugs. From the 1900's onward, these sometimes had a pipe-bowl carved into the poll, and a hole drilled down the center of the shaft for smoking tobacco through the metal head. Pipe tomahawks are artifacts unique to North America, created by Europeans as trade objects but often exchanged as diplomatic gifts. They were symbols of the choice Europeans and Native Americans faced whenever they met: one end was the pipe of peace, the other an axe of war.

In colonial French territory, a different tomahawk design, closer to the ancient European francisca, was in use by French settlers and local peoples. In the late 18th century, the British Army issued tomahawks to their colonial regulars during the American Revolutionary War as a weapon and tool.

This example appears to be ground dug, as there are signs of very old pitting present on the head. The handle is a lovely replacement and does appear to have been done long ago. The head of the tomahawk is approximately 6” in length with an edge width of 1 ¾” with a handle length of 17 ¾”. There are no stamps or markings in the metal, as this is a hand forged wrought iron tool.

This is a beautiful example of a Revolutionary War era Colonial blacksmith made tomahawk! Comes more than ready for display.