The tomahawk is one of the best-known Native weapons, next to the bow and arrow. Basically, it's a small hatchet or hand-ax meant for use in combat or for any other purpose one can think of for an ax in field conditions.
Tomahawk is an Algonquian word mening a cutting tool or ax and Algonquian tribes are credited with creating the weapon. Pre-contact tomahawks used a stone fastened to a handle by leather strips. Once trade began with Europeans,, metal blades could be forged using European hand-axes as models. Metal could be formed into decorative or useful lines, such as pipe tomahawks, which were often used as presentation pieces.
For their part, Europeans and Settlers ssw how effective this weapon could be. British and French forces issued tomahawks to their troops fighting in North America, as did the Continental and some US Army units. The tomahawk is still used today for tactical and competitive purposes.
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