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Beaded steel pipe tomahawk

Titles: Beaded steel pipe tomahawk (Supplied title)

Description: A pipe tomahawk, possibly Dakota, associated with the Dakota chief Thunder Hawk, circa the mid to late 19th century. It has a steel head with a blade opposite a bowl that has "V" shaped etchings at its base. The oval eye is slid over an oval cross section wood haft that is drilled for smoking and hot file branded on the exterior. One side of the haft is engraved with two sets of four deep grooves, and what appear to be random nail holes. The opposite side is engraved with two "V" shapes flanked by crescents and six bulbous shapes, three of which have a curved line extending from one side. A third of the haft is leather covered and has red and blue lazy-stitch beadwork, dyed and wrapped quills and leather fringe. One end has two tassels, one a thong wrapped with red and blue beads and the other a "V" shaped piece of leather solidly beaded in a red and blue lazy-stitch diamond design. A single tassel on the other end of the haft is leather thong edged with red wool. The mouthpiece is brass.

Dates

  • Not earlier than 1850 - Not later than 1890 (Creation)

Creation

Identifiers

  • Accession Number: 6300.10

Restrictions

  • Through curatorial review and/or additional consultation with American Indian elders, spiritual leaders, tribal officers or lineal descendants, this item has been determined to be culturally sensitive. As advised by the Minnesota Historical Society Indian Advisory Committee on April 20, 2012, the Minnesota Historical Society will not display images of culturally sensitive items on the public database.

Holding Type: 3D Objects

Quantity: 1 item

Format

  • Content Category: artifacts

Measurements

  • 58 centimeters length (overall)
  • 24 centimeters length (blade)
  • 66 centimeters length (tassel)

Subjects

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