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

Etymology

The name comes from Powhatan tamahaac, derived from the Proto-Algonquian root *temah- 'to cut off by tool'. Algonquian cognates include Lenape təmahikan, Malecite-Passamaquoddy tomhikon, and Abenaki demahigan, all of which mean 'axe'

History

The Algonquian people 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 pipe. These became known as pipe tomahawks, which consisted of a bowl on the poll and a hollowed out shaft.

General Purpose Tool

Many Native Americans used tomahawks as general-purpose tools. Because they were small and light, they could be used with one hand. This made them ideal for such activities as hunting, chopping, and cutting. Both the Navajo and Cherokee peoples used them in this way. The development of metal-bladed tomahawks expanded their use even more. Most Native Americans had their own individual tomahawks, which they decorated to suit their personal taste. As Native American artwork shows, many of these were decorated with eagle feathers, which represented acts of bravery.

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  • AmericaDelendaEst [comrade/them]
    ·
    9 days ago

    well y'all my gf is having Big second Thoughts now about this Buying a House thing she wanted to do and has spent all day trying to decide if she should back out or not and like idk, if she does she's basically spent 3500 for literally nothing, literally 0 purpose, and she's all "that's a sunken cost fallacy" at me but like idk at this point we might as well keep on truckin' and hope it works out. it's a good house and idk even if property taxes are A Lot that would mean 1) the property is worth a lot and could always be re-sold and 2) rent is going to go up every fuckin' year anyway, idk

    also we've got like idk ~15k (I say we, but it's her money, i'm poor) and idk I think unless something catastrophically wrong happens like the HVAC system breaks immediately it's probably a sizeable enough $$$ cushion that we would have at least a year to figure out our budget and ways to rectify our financial situation, if even necessary

    but idk I'm basically just like i-love-not-thinking because I was dragged into this to begin with and I don't fuckin gknow what to do. Maybe she's right to worry and she will lose her job and we'll be fucked but like we'd be fucked renting too like idfk man

    • plinky [he/him]
      ·
      9 days ago

      gotta be sharing burdens and stuff, try to become the number cruncher or some shit meow-floppy if we dothis then that, if we go like this than in 5 years we will be boned like that etc