TOMAHAWK (Algonquian tomehagan, Mo began tumnahegan, Delaware lantoihecan, toma hawk; probably connected with Cree otomattuk, knock him down, atiiinahlrow, he is knocked down). In general, the hatchet or axe made and used by the American natives. The aboriginal implement was usually of stone, either flaked and chipped, or battered and ground or polished. The former type was usually of flint or chert, with a constriction for holding the haft; the lat ter was commonly of green stone, granite, or other tough material, grooved to receive the haft. This haft was usually of wood. In rougher specimens it was merely a withe doubled or bent around the implement and firmly attached with sinew or rawhide, sometimes with the aid of a wedge, but in the more elaborate forms used in ceremonies and on the warpath it was care fully wrought of tough wood and attached to the head by means of sinew or rawhide lashings.
itself a symbol of war, the tomahawk usually bore some emblem of peace, and the highest type combined the weapon and the pipe, the distinc tive American symbol of amity. This type culmi nated in the calumet (q.v.). The native type served as a model for a trade implement manufactured of metal and imported for barter with the natives, especially during the seventeenth century, which in its turn became the model for artists, and to some extent for the tribesmen themselves. The tomahawk grades into the eelt (q.v.), and to some extent the implements were interchange able; but while native copper was a not un common material for the latter implements, cop per tomahawks are extremely rare. See IN DIANS ; ARCILEOLOGY, AMERICAN..