A tomahawk is a single handed axe used by many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. Its name comes from the Powhatan word tamahaac, tracing to a Proto-Algonquian root meaning to cut off with a tool. The earliest tomahawks carried heads of stone, bone or antler lashed to a wooden handle with rawhide, and after European contact metal heads became common. A typical modern tomahawk has a shaft under two feet long, usually of hickory, ash or maple, with a head weighing nine to twenty ounces. Beyond general use as a tool, tomahawks served as hand to hand weapons and later as diplomatic gifts, including pipe tomahawks that combined a smoking bowl with an axe blade. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Introduced When (Circa)pre-colonial North American use (before 17th century European contact); metal heads introduced after contact 1 OriginNorth America; used by Indigenous peoples with heads originally of stone, bone or antler, before European traders introduced metal heads. 1 Sources
1. Tomahawk (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHistory sectionQuote, History section
In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and European settlers later introduced heads of iron and steel.
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