Tomahawk

thumb|Pipe tomahawk

thumb|Modern commercial tomahawk

A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. Alternative sources state that it derived from the Algonquian word otomahuk (“to knock down”).

Algonquian cognates include Lenape , Malecite-Passamaquoddy , and Abenaki , all of which mean 'axe'.

The term came into the English language in the 17th century as an adaptation of the Powhatan (Virginian Algonquian) word.

History

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 was created by the Algonquian people. It 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 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.

In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and European settlers later introduced heads of iron and steel.

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.

thumb|left|A pipe tomahawk dating to the early 19th century

According to Mike Haskew, the modern tomahawk shaft is usually less than in length, traditionally made of hickory, ash, or maple.

From the 1800s 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. In the late 18th century, the British Army issued tomahawks to their colonial regulars during the American Revolutionary War as a weapon and tool.

Contemporary models

Many of these modern tomahawks are made of drop forged, differentially heat treated, alloy steel.

Competition-based

The tomahawk competitions have regulations concerning the type and style of tomahawk used for throwing.

Today's hand-forged tomahawks are being made by master craftsmen throughout the United States.

There are special throwing tomahawks made for competitions such as the World Axe Throwing League. Requirements such as a minimum handle length and a maximum blade edge are dictated by each organizing body of competition in its rules.

thumb|Traditional form tomahawk

These modern tomahawks have gained popularity with their reemergence by American Tomahawk Company in the beginning of 2001 and a collaboration with custom knife-maker Ernest Emerson of Emerson Knives, Inc. is a popular sport among American and Canadian historical reenactment groups, and new martial arts such as Okichitaw have begun to revive tomahawk fighting techniques used during the colonial era.

Military application

thumb|A US Army soldier throws a tomahawk as part of the Top Tomahawk competition at Forward Operating Base [[Spin Boldak in Kandahar, Afghanistan.]]

Modern, non-traditional tomahawks were used by selected units of the US armed forces during the Vietnam War and are referred to as "Vietnam tomahawks" to inflict injury.

Tomahawks were used by individual members of the US Army Stryker Brigade in Afghanistan, the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team based at Grafenwöhr (Germany), the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division out of Fort Lewis, a reconnaissance platoon in the 2d Squadron 183d Cavalry (116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team) (OIF 2007–2008) and numerous other soldiers.

Modern fighting

Tomahawks are among the weapons used in the Filipino martial art escrima.

Popular culture

In the 20th and 21st century, tomahawks have been prominently featured in films and video games (e.g. Dances with Wolves; Last of the Mohicans; The Patriot; Jonah Hex; Prey; Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter; Bullet to the Head; Red Dead Redemption and its sequel, and Assassin's Creed III), leading to increased interest among the public.