Tomahawk (axe)
Encyclopedia
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
native to North America, traditionally resembling a hatchet
Hatchet
A hatchet is a single-handed striking tool with a sharp blade used to cut and split wood...
with a straight shaft. The name came into the English language in the 17th century as a transliteration of the Powhatan
Powhatan
The Powhatan is the name of a Virginia Indian confederation of tribes. It is estimated that there were about 14,000–21,000 of these native Powhatan people in eastern Virginia when the English settled Jamestown in 1607...
(Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
n Algonquian
Eastern Algonquian languages
The Eastern Algonquian languages constitute a subgroup of the Algonquian languages. Prior to European contact, Eastern Algonquian consisted of at least seventeen languages collectively occupying the Atlantic coast of North America and adjacent inland areas, from the Canadian Maritime provinces to...
) word.
Tomahawks were general purpose tools used by Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
and European Colonials alike, and often employed as a hand-to-hand or a thrown weapon, much like the African nzappa zap
Nzappa zap
The Nzappa zap is a traditional African weapon similar to an axe or hatchet. It has an ornate wrought-iron blade connected to a club-like wooden handle, often clad in copper, bronze or brass. In practice, it is used much like the American tomahawk, both thrown for short distances and as a melee...
. It originally featured a stone head, but later iron or brass heads were used. The metal tomahawk heads were originally based on a Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
boarding axe and used as a trade-item with Native Americans for food and other provisions.
Composition
Soapstone
Soapstone is a metamorphic rock, a talc-schist. It is largely composed of the mineral talc and is thus rich in magnesium. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occurs in the areas where tectonic plates are subducted, changing rocks by heat and pressure, with influx...
, and ornately carved examples were used in some American Indian rituals. These usually had a pipe-bowl carved into the poll, and a hole drilled down the center of the shaft for smoking tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
through the tomahawk. There are also metal-headed versions of this unusual pipe. Pipe tomahawks are artifacts unique to North America: created by Europeans as trade objects but often exchanged as diplomatic gifts. They are powerful symbols of the choice Europeans and Indians faced whenever they met: one end was the pipe of peace, the other an axe of war.
In Colonial French territory, a very different random tomahawk design, closer to the ancient francisca
Francisca
The francisca is a throwing axe used as a weapon during the Early Middle Ages by the Franks, among whom it was a characteristic national weapon at the time of the Merovingians from about 500 to 750 AD and is known to have been used during the reign of Charlemagne .Although generally associated...
, was in use by French settlers and Indigenous Peoples. In the late 18th Century, the British army issued tomahawks to their Colonial Regulars during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
as a weapon and tool. Its most notable difference from conventional axes is a smaller 'head'.
Modern use
Tomahawk throwingThrowing axe
A throwing axe is an axe that is used primarily as a missile weapon. Usually, they are thrown in an overhand motion in a manner that causes the axe to rotate as it travels through the air. Throwing axes have been used since prehistoric times and were developed into the Francisca by the Franks in...
is a popular sport among American historical re-enactment groups, and new martial arts such as Okichitaw
Okichitaw
Okichitaw is a martial art based on the fighting techniques of the Plains Cree First Nations. It was founded and developed by Canadian martial artist, George J. Lépine.- Origins :In his youth, founder George J...
have begun to revive tomahawk fighting techniques used during the Colonial era. Tomahawks are also a category within competitive knife throwing
Knife throwing
Knife throwing is an art, sport, combat skill, or variously an entertainment technique, involving an artist skilled in the art of throwing knives, the weapons thrown, and a target.-A throwing knife:...
. Today's hand-forged tomahawks are being made by master craftsmen throughout the United States.
American Tomahawk Company
American Tomahawk Company is a US-based company which manufactures modern tomahawks for use by the US Military. It was founded in 1966 by Peter LaGana to make tomahawks for the Vietnam War and folded in the 1970s. ATC was revived in early 2001 by Andy Prisco and LaGana shortly before LaGana's death...
in the beginning of 2001, and a collaboration with Custom Knife-maker Ernest Emerson
Ernest Emerson
Ernest R. Emerson is an American custom knifemaker, martial artist, and edged-weapons expert. Originally an engineer and machinist in the aerospace industry, Emerson became a knifemaker known for making decorative knives but later became better known for his combat knives, eventually founding a...
of Emerson Knives, Inc.
Emerson Knives, Inc.
Emerson Knives, Inc. is a production knife company founded in 1996 by custom knifemaker Ernest Emerson in an effort to mass produce his folding knife designs for the US Military and Collector markets.-History:...
Modern-day Tomahawks designed by the late Peter LaGana included wood handles, a hatchet-like bit and a leather sheath and were used by select U.S. forces during the Vietnam war
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and are referred to as "Vietnam Tomahawks".
A similar wood handle "Vietnam Tomahawk" is also produced today by Cold Steel
Cold Steel
Cold Steel is a Ventura, California-based maker of knives, swords and other edged weapons and tools. Cold Steel was founded in 1980 by company president, Lynn C. Thompson...
. The tomahawk was later redesigned featuring synthetic shafts by American Tomahawk Company and named "VTAC"'s ("Vietnam Tactical Tomahawk"'s) and are manufactured by Fehrman Knives. SOG Knives Inc. has also entered the field with its own version of the "Vietnam Tomahawk", the Fusion Tactical Tomahawk. The original "Vietnam Tomahawks" are rare and expensive.
Many of these modern tomahawks are made of drop forged, differentially heat treated, alloy steel. The differential heat treatment allows for the chopping portion and the spike to be harder
Rockwell scale
The Rockwell scale is a hardness scale based on the indentation hardness of a material. The Rockwell test determines the hardness by measuring the depth of penetration of an indenter under a large load compared to the penetration made by a preload. There are different scales, denoted by a single...
than the middle section allowing for a shock resistant body with a durable temper.
Military application
Stryker
The IAV Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled, 4-wheel-drive , armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III and produced by General Dynamics Land Systems, in use by the United States Army. The vehicle is named for two American servicemen who posthumously received the Medal of Honor:...
Brigade in Afghanistan, the 172nd SBCT Team based at Grafenwoehr, Germany, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division out of Fort Lewis
Fort Lewis
Joint Base Lewis-McChord is a United States military facility located south-southwest of Tacoma, Washington. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Army Joint Base Garrison, Joint Base Lewis-McChord....
, a Recon Platoon in the 2-183d CAV (116th IBCT)(OIF 2007-2008) and numerous other soldiers. The VTAC was issued a National 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
Stryker
The IAV Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled, 4-wheel-drive , armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III and produced by General Dynamics Land Systems, in use by the United States Army. The vehicle is named for two American servicemen who posthumously received the Medal of Honor:...
vehicle as the “Modular Entry Tool set”. This design is enjoying something of a renaissance with US soldiers in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
as a tool and in use in hand-to-hand combat.
The Sayoc-Winkler Knives 2 "R&D Hawk" was developed by ABS
American Bladesmith Society
The American Bladesmith Society or ABS is an non-profit organization composed of knifemakers whose primary function is to promote the techniques of forging steel blades. The ABS was founded by Knifemaker William F...
Mastersmith Daniel Winkler
Daniel Winkler
Daniel Winkler is an American award-winning custom knifemaker based in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, USA. Winkler is a certified Mastersmith with the American Bladesmith Society and designed and built the knives and tomahawks for the 1992 motion picture: The Last of the Mohicans.Winkler designed...
and Sayoc Tactical Group Tomahawk Instructor Rafael Kayanan
Rafael Kayanan
Rafael Kayanan is a Filipino-born naturalised American comic book artist and Filipino Martial Arts master in the Sayoc Kali system.-Biography:...
's design of a hawk for modern applications.
According to military after action reports, apart from use as a CQC (Close Quarters Combat) weapon, the tomahawk's modern use includes non-explosive dynamic entry, obstacle removal, lock/hasp removal, opening crates, ventilating fuel drums, digging fighting positions, personal defense, and IED removal.
Manufacturers
Current tomahawk manufacturers include:- American Tomahawk CompanyAmerican Tomahawk CompanyAmerican Tomahawk Company is a US-based company which manufactures modern tomahawks for use by the US Military. It was founded in 1966 by Peter LaGana to make tomahawks for the Vietnam War and folded in the 1970s. ATC was revived in early 2001 by Andy Prisco and LaGana shortly before LaGana's death...
- Branton Knives in collaboration with Walter Brend
- Cold SteelCold SteelCold Steel is a Ventura, California-based maker of knives, swords and other edged weapons and tools. Cold Steel was founded in 1980 by company president, Lynn C. Thompson...
- Delia Tactical International
- Fury by Joy Enterprises
- LC Hansen
- K5 Tactical
- Ranger Knives
- RMJ Forge and RMJ Tactical
- Sayoc-Winkler Knives 2
- Sims Tactical Solutions
- Strider KnivesStrider KnivesStrider Knives, Inc. is a custom and production knifemaking facility headed by Mick Strider and Duane Dwyer based in San Marcos, California.-Materials and design:...
- Joe Szilaski
- Winkler Knives
- SOG Specialty Knives & Tools
- Old World BladeWorks
- BenchmadeBenchmadeThe Benchmade Knife Company is a knife manufacturer run by Roberta and Les de Asis in Oregon City, Oregon, United States. Its products are geared toward many niche markets, such as outdoor sporting cutlery, rescue, law-enforcement, martial-arts, and military...