# Tomahawk

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{{Short description|Axe from North America}}
{{Other uses}}
thumb|Pipe tomahawk
thumb|Modern commercial tomahawk
A '''tomahawk''' is a type of single-handed [axe](/source/axe) used by the many [Indigenous peoples and nations](/source/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States) of [North America](/source/North_America). It traditionally resembles a [hatchet](/source/hatchet) with a straight shaft.<ref name="PH"/><ref name="SSH"/>

==Etymology==
The name comes from [Powhatan](/source/Powhatan_language) {{Lang|pim|tamahaac}}, derived from the [Proto-Algonquian](/source/Proto-Algonquian) root {{lang|alg-x-proto|*temah-}} 'to cut off by tool'.<ref name="Cutler 2002 139">{{cite book |last=Cutler |first=Charles L. |title=Tracks that Speak: The Legacy of Native American Words in North American Culture |year=2002 |publisher=[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt](/source/Houghton_Mifflin_Harcourt) |location=Boston |isbn=0-618-06509-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/tracksthatspeakl00char |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/tracksthatspeakl00char/page/139 139]}}</ref> Alternative sources state that it derived from the Algonquian word ''otomahuk'' (“to knock down”).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-01 |title=Tomahawk {{!}} Native American, Throwing, War Club {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/tomahawk-hand-weapon |access-date=2025-06-22 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> 

[Algonquian](/source/Algonquian_languages) cognates include [Lenape](/source/Lenape_language) {{lang|del|təmahikan}},<ref>{{cite dictionary |title=tëmahikàn |url=http://www.talk-lenape.org/results?query=tëmahikàn&lang=lenape |dictionary=Lenape Talking Dictionary |access-date=October 27, 2012 |quote=The Lenape root {{lang|del|təmə-}} means 'to cut off' and the suffix {{lang|del|-hikan}} forms the names of tools}}</ref> [Malecite-Passamaquoddy](/source/Malecite-Passamaquoddy_language) {{lang|pqm|tomhikon}}, and [Abenaki](/source/Abenaki_language) {{lang|abe|demahigan}}, all of which mean 'axe'.<ref name="Hranicky2009">{{cite book |last=Hranicky |first=William |title=Material Culture from Prehistoric Virginia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_nBw1BC2JW4C&pg=PA56 |date=1 April 2009 |publisher=[AuthorHouse](/source/AuthorHouse) |isbn=978-1-4389-6661-8 |page=56}}</ref><ref name="JahrBroch1996">{{cite book |last1=Jahr |first1=Ernst Håkon |author-link=Ernst Håkon Jahr |last2=Broch |first2=Ingvild |title=Language Contact in the Arctic: Northern Pidgins and Contact Languages |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VAfMZIta9yUC&pg=PA295 |year=1996 |publisher=[Walter de Gruyter](/source/Walter_de_Gruyter) |isbn=978-3-11-014335-5 |page=295}}</ref>

The term came into the English language in the 17th century as an [adaptation](/source/Anglicisation) of the [Powhatan](/source/Powhatan) ([Virginia](/source/Virginia)n [Algonquian](/source/Eastern_Algonquian_languages)) word.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}

==History==
{{multiple image
 | align = right
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 200
 | image1 = Tomahawk, late 19th-early 20th century, 26.802.jpg
 | caption1 = Tomahawk, Oglala, Lakota, Sioux (Native American), late 19th-early 20th century, [Brooklyn Museum](/source/Brooklyn_Museum)
 | image2 = NezPerce Tomahawk.jpg
 | caption2 = [Nez Perce](/source/Nez_Perce_people) tomahawk
}}
Before Europeans came to the continent, Native Americans would use stones, sharpened by a process of knapping and pecking,<ref>{{cite web |title=History and Origins of the Tomahawk |url=https://www.camp4.com/history-of-the-tomahawk/ |work=Tomahawk History |date=3 June 2021 |access-date=10 June 2021}}</ref> attached to wooden handles, secured with strips of [rawhide](/source/Rawhide_(material)). The tomahawk was created by the [Algonquian people](/source/Algonquian_people). It quickly spread from the [Algonquian culture](/source/Algonquian_peoples) to the tribes of the [South](/source/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Southeastern_Woodlands) and the [Great Plains](/source/Plains_Indians).

Native Americans created a ''tomahawk’s poll'', the side opposite the blade, which consisted of a hammer, spike or [pipe](/source/Smoking_pipe). These became known as pipe tomahawks, which consisted of a bowl on the poll and a hollowed out shaft.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shannon |first=Timothy J. |year=2005 |title=Queequeg's Tomahawk: A Cultural Biography, 1750-1900 |url=http://cupola.gettysburg.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=histfac |journal=[Ethnohistory](/source/Ethnohistory_(journal)) |publisher=[Gettysburg College](/source/Gettysburg_College) |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=589–633 |doi=10.1215/00141801-52-3-589 |via=The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College|url-access=subscription }}</ref> These were created by European and American artisans for trade and diplomatic gifts for the tribes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tomahawk History |url=http://www.hawkthrowing.com/history-of-tomahawks.html |work=Hawk Throwing |access-date=22 July 2014}}</ref>

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](/source/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States) 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](/source/Royal_Navy) [boarding](/source/Naval_boarding) axe (a lightweight hand axe designed to cut through [boarding net](/source/boarding_net)s when boarding hostile ships) and used as a trade-item with Native Americans for food and other provisions.<ref name="PH" /><ref name="SSH" />

==Composition==
[[File:Inlaid Tomahawk Pipe Bowl, early 19th century, 50.67.103.jpg|thumb|left|Inlaid tomahawk pipe bowl, early 19th century, [Brooklyn Museum](/source/Brooklyn_Museum)]]

=== Original models ===
The tomahawk's original designs were fitted with heads of bladed or rounded stone or deer antler.<ref name="Cutler 2002 139"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Colin F. |title=Native American Weapons |year=2001 |publisher=[University of Oklahoma Press](/source/University_of_Oklahoma_Press) |location=Norman, Okla. |isbn=0806133465 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JYSqNL0LPsAC&pg=PA30 |access-date=2012-11-17 |page=30 |quote=The wooden ballheaded club at this time was also generally referred to as a 'tomahawk'}}</ref>

thumb|left|A pipe tomahawk dating to the early 19th century
According to Mike Haskew, the modern tomahawk shaft is usually less than {{convert|2|ft|cm|abbr=on}} in length, traditionally made of hickory, ash, or maple.<ref name="PH"/><ref name= "SSH">{{cite journal |last=Haskew |first=Mike |title=Star-Spangled Hawks Take Wing |journal=[Blade](/source/Blade_(magazine)) |date=2006-09-01 |pages=30–37 |volume=33 |issue=9 }}</ref><ref name="LL"/> 

The heads weigh anywhere from {{convert|9| to |20|oz|g|abbr=on}}, with a cutting edge usually not much longer than {{convert|4|in|cm|spell=in}} from toe to heel.<ref name="SSH" /> 

The poll can feature a hammer, spike, or may simply be rounded off, and they usually do not have lugs.<ref name="PH">{{cite journal |last=Haskew |first=Mike |title=Pipe Hawks |journal=[Blade](/source/Blade_(magazine)) |date= 2003-09-01 |pages=26–34 |volume=30 |issue=9 }}</ref><ref name="SSH" />

=== Colonial period models ===
European traders brought with them metal axe-heads, which Native Americans and white settlers alike adapted into their tomahawk designs.<ref>{{cite web |title=Activity Maine |url=https://activitymaine.com/tomahawk/#:~:text=Four%20hundred%20years%20ago%2C%20the%20Europeans%20introduced,of%20the%20tomahawk%20from%20that%20point%20forward. |website=activitymaine.com |access-date=9 June 2025}}</ref>

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](/source/tobacco) through the metal head.<ref name="SSH" /> 

Pipe tomahawks are artifacts unique to North America, created by Europeans as trade objects but often exchanged as [diplomatic gift](/source/diplomatic_gift)s.<ref name="PH" /> They were symbols of the choice Europeans and Native Americans faced whenever they met: one end was the [pipe of peace](/source/Calumet_(pipe)), the other an axe of war.<ref name="PH" /><ref name="SSH" /><ref name="LL" />

In colonial French territory, a different tomahawk design, closer to the ancient European [francisca](/source/francisca), was in use by French settlers and local peoples.<ref name="LL">{{cite journal |last=Haskew |first=Mike |title=Legends and Lore Through the Spike Tomahawk |journal=[Blade](/source/Blade_(magazine)) |date=2004-09-01 |pages=12–19 |volume=28 |issue=9 }}</ref> In the late 18th century, the British Army issued tomahawks to their colonial regulars during the [American Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War) as a weapon and tool.<ref name="TK">{{cite journal |last=Dick |first=Steven |title=Frontier Hatchets still On Duty |journal=[Tactical Knives](/source/Tactical_Knives) |date=2002-05-01 |pages=43–47 |volume=10 |issue=5 }}</ref>

=== Contemporary models ===
Many of these modern tomahawks are made of [drop forged](/source/drop_forged), differentially heat treated, alloy steel.<ref name="EKI" /> 

The differential heat treatment allows for the chopping portion and the spike to be [harder](/source/rockwell_scale) than the middle section, allowing for a shock-resistant body with a durable temper.<ref name="EKI">{{cite journal |last=Emerson |first=Ernest |author-link=Ernest Emerson |title=The Modern Tomahawk |journal=[American Handgunner](/source/American_Handgunner) |page=15 |year=2007}}</ref>

==== 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.<ref name="wedge" /><ref name="MH">{{cite news |url=http://www.americantomahawk.com/media/av/mountaineer.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060822155131/http://www.americantomahawk.com/media/av/mountaineer.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 22, 2006 |title=Tomahawk Makes Front Page News in San Francisco |publisher=Mountaineer-Herald |date=January 25, 1968 |page=8 |access-date=July 14, 2008 }}</ref> 

There are special throwing tomahawks made for competitions such as the [World Axe Throwing League](/source/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.<ref name="comp" />

==== Law enforcement use ====
Some companies produce "tactical tomahawks" marketed as SWAT oriented tools. Some designs include multiple uses wherein the shaft is designed as a [pry bar](/source/pry_bar).

==Modern use==

=== Civilian use ===
Tomahawks are useful in camping and bushcraft scenarios. They are mostly used as an alternative to a hatchet, as they are generally lighter and slimmer than hatchets. They often contain other tools in addition to the axe head, such as spikes or hammers.<ref name="Fadala2006">{{cite book |last=Fadala |first=Sam |title=The Complete Blackpowder Handbook |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dzxyneq43AEC&pg=PA348 |year=2006 |publisher=Gun Digest Books |location=Iola, Wisconsin |isbn=0-89689-390-1 |page=348 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

thumb|Traditional form tomahawk
These modern tomahawks have gained popularity with their reemergence by [American Tomahawk Company](/source/American_Tomahawk_Company) in the beginning of 2001 and a collaboration with custom knife-maker [Ernest Emerson](/source/Ernest_Emerson) of [Emerson Knives, Inc.](/source/Emerson_Knives%2C_Inc.)<ref name="wedge"/> A similar wood handle Vietnam tomahawk is produced today by [Cold Steel](/source/Cold_Steel_(company)).<ref name="wedge"/>

===Tomahawk throwing===
[[File:Masterpiece of craftsmanship - Franziska forged in modern Tomahawk shape design from cannon steel from the Leopard I battle tank - axe style made of a more than 150-year-old walnut tree.jpg|thumb|left|[Francisca](/source/Francisca) forged in a modern Tomahawk shape]]{{Main|Axe throwing}}
[Tomahawk throwing](/source/Throwing_axe)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hatchetsandaxes.com/how_to_throw_a_tomahawk |title=How to Throw a Tomahawk |work=Hatchets and Axes |date=February 23, 2011 |access-date=May 3, 2011}}</ref><ref name="comp">{{cite web |url=https://www.awesomeaxes.com/how-to-score-at-axe-throwing/ |title=Tomahawk Throwing Competitions |work=Awesome Axes |date=January 1, 2022 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |first=Joan |last=Taillon |title=Toronto martial arts group visits North Korea |newspaper=The Aboriginal Newspaper of Ontario |date=September 1, 2004 |url=http://www.ammsa.com/publications/ontario-birchbark/toronto-martial-arts-group-visits-north-korea |access-date=July 20, 2008 |volume=3 |issue=8 |page=2}}</ref>

===Military application===
[[File:U.S. Army Spc. Kirk Calabrese with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment throws a tomahawk.jpg|thumb|A US Army soldier throws a tomahawk as part of the Top Tomahawk competition at Forward Operating Base [Spin Boldak](/source/Spin_Boldak) in [Kandahar](/source/Kandahar), [Afghanistan](/source/Afghanistan).]]
Modern, non-traditional tomahawks were used by selected units of the [US armed forces](/source/US_armed_forces) during the [Vietnam War](/source/Vietnam_War) and are referred to as "Vietnam tomahawks" to inflict injury.<ref name="wedge" /><ref name="ATC">{{cite news |url=http://www.americantomahawk.com/media/av/pittsburgh.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060825225129/http://www.americantomahawk.com/media/av/pittsburgh.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 25, 2006 |title=Marines Stuck On Tomahawk |work=[The Pittsburgh Press](/source/The_Pittsburgh_Press) |date=February 25, 1968 |page=2 |access-date=July 14, 2008 }}</ref> 

Tomahawks were used by individual members of the [US Army](/source/United_States_Army) [Stryker](/source/Stryker) Brigade in Afghanistan, the [172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team](/source/172nd_Stryker_Brigade_Combat_Team) based at [Grafenwöhr](/source/Grafenw%C3%B6hr) (Germany), the 3rd Brigade, [2nd Infantry Division](/source/2nd_Infantry_Division_(United_States)) out of [Fort Lewis](/source/Fort_Lewis_(Washington)), a reconnaissance platoon in the 2d Squadron 183d Cavalry ([116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team](/source/116th_Infantry_Brigade_Combat_Team)) ([OIF](/source/Operation_Iraqi_Freedom) 2007–2008) and numerous other soldiers.<ref name="wedge" /><ref name="EKI" /> 

The tomahawk was issued a NATO stock number (4210-01-518-7244) and classified as a "Class 9 rescue kit" as a result of a program called the Rapid Fielding Initiative; it is also included within every [Stryker](/source/Stryker) vehicle as the "modular entry tool set".<ref name="wedge">{{cite journal |last=Steele |first=David E. |title=Wedged Edges at War |journal=[Blade](/source/Blade_(magazine)) |date=September 2005 |pages=12–19}}</ref><ref name="EKI" />

This design enjoyed something of a renaissance with US soldiers in [Iraq](/source/Iraq) and [Afghanistan](/source/Afghanistan) as a tool and in use in hand-to-hand combat.<ref name="ABC">{{cite news |last=Tillett |first=David |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90038&page=1 |title=Lethal Weapon:Historic Tomahawk Returns to the Battlefield with Some U.S. Troops |newspaper=[ABC News](/source/ABC_News_(United_States)) |date=April 15, 2003 |access-date=January 24, 2007}}</ref>

===Modern fighting===
Tomahawks are among the weapons used in the Filipino martial art [escrima](/source/Arnis).<ref name="McLemore2010">{{cite book|last=McLemore|first=Dwight C.|title=The Fighting Tomahawk|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=85sOcAAACAAJ|year=2010|publisher=Paladin Press|isbn=978-1-58160-729-1|page=27|location=Boulder, Colorado}}</ref>

== Popular culture ==
In the 20th and 21st century, tomahawks have been prominently featured in films and video games (e.g. ''[Dances with Wolves](/source/Dances_with_Wolves)''; ''[Last of the Mohicans](/source/Last_of_the_Mohicans_(1992_film))''; ''[The Patriot](/source/The_Patriot_(2000_film))''; ''[Jonah Hex](/source/Jonah_Hex_(film))''; ''[Prey](/source/Prey_(2022_film))''; ''[Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter](/source/Abraham_Lincoln%3A_Vampire_Hunter)'';<ref>{{cite book |last=Grahame-Smith |first=Seth |author-link=Seth Grahame-Smith |title=[Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter](/source/Abraham_Lincoln%2C_Vampire_Hunter_(novel)) |publisher=[Grand Central Publishing](/source/Grand_Central_Publishing) |date=March 2, 2010 |pages=336 |location=New York |isbn=978-0-446-56308-6 |oclc=458890478}}</ref> ''[Bullet to the Head](/source/Bullet_to_the_Head)''; ''[Red Dead Redemption](/source/Red_Dead_Redemption)'' and its [sequel](/source/Red_Dead_Redemption_2), and ''[Assassin's Creed III](/source/Assassin's_Creed_III)''),<ref>{{cite book |title=Assassin's Creed III - Strategy Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ORDSCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT125 |publisher=Game Guide |date=October 28, 2015 |page=125 |isbn=9781621545316}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Altson |first1=John |last2=Lee |first2=Bob |title=The Id from Eden |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IqKEZay_S1wC&pg=PT89 |date=January 29, 2013 |page=89 |publisher=John Altson |isbn=9781482021271}}</ref> leading to increased interest among the public.{{cn|date=October 2025}}

==See also==
* [Foam tomahawk](/source/Foam_tomahawk)
* [Hurlbat](/source/Hurlbat)
* [Mambele/Hunga Munga](/source/Mambele_(knives))
* [Native American weaponry](/source/Native_American_weaponry)
* [Shepherd's axe](/source/Shepherd's_axe)
* [Tomahawk chop](/source/Tomahawk_chop)

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Forestry tools}}
Category:Edged and bladed weapons
Category:Axes
Category:Ancient weapons
Category:Throwing axes
Category:American inventions
Category:Canadian inventions
Category:Military equipment of the United States
Category:Indigenous weapons of the Americas
Category:Fur trade

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tomahawk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomahawk) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomahawk?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.