Links to Native American / Frontier Tomahawk Decorations

Triquetra

Triquetra

Joined
Mar 7, 2002
Messages
759
Just wondering if anyone has links to pictures or examples of Native American, Mountain Man, or Frontier tomahawk or hatchet decorations. I'm not having much luck and I would like to see what they did and get some ideas.
 
Triquetra said:
Just wondering if anyone has links to pictures or examples of Native American, Mountain Man, or Frontier tomahawk or hatchet decorations. I'm not having much luck and I would like to see what they did and get some ideas.
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I have studied Native antique art for many years. Tomahawks and other weapons were usually decorated with brass tacks. ALL tomahawks were made by whitemen for trade and were not usually decorated by the Natives who ended up owning them. This guys work is some of the best reproductions of early style hawks and war clubs.

Hope it helps http://www.nativeworkshop.com/tomahawks.htm

Best regards

Robin
 
The Sioux and Cheyenne used to put beaded "drops" on the ends of their hafts, about 2 to 3 inches wide and 6 to 8 inches long, beaded in geometrics and done in "lazy stitch"

R
 
Robin,

I could not get any nativeworkshop.com sites to open for google. I even googled nativeworkshop, click on the links there and they would not open either. Too bad, I was interested in their pictures as well.

Have a great day,
Howard
 
Howard, a good place to start is Crazy Crows. A lot of info and pics there.......Randy

http://www.crazycrow.com/

A technical site to Native procedures and history

http://www.nativetech.org/

And my alltime favorite slobbering over the pictures and inspirational top of the shelf site is Chuck Burrows,

http://www.wrtcleather.com/index.html

If you are looking for originals to get ideas from, I've got over 15,000 photos saved, but you have to narrow it down a little to what you are looking for.......Randy
 
Another good source for early pieces is found in the art of George Catlin. He was a 19 century painter who did many pieces show Native people in their original dress. There are many online links to museum collections and galleries.

Regards

Robin
 
That's a good one Robin, Mr. Catlin actually had a small studio in the Smithsonian Castle in his latter years. Several hundred of his works are on display at their Art Museum......Randy
 
Pipeman said:
I have studied Native antique art for many years. Tomahawks and other weapons were usually decorated with brass tacks. ALL tomahawks were made by whitemen for trade and were not usually decorated by the Natives who ended up owning them. This guys work is some of the best reproductions of early style hawks and war clubs.

Hope it helps http://www.nativeworkshop.com/tomahawks.htm

Best regards

Robin
Click to expand...

So the ones that I see with leather and bead wraps on the handle or horsehair decorations or something. Are these just something created by show not really by the NA's. Or were those created by the NA's just for ceremony but the ones they actually used every day or in battle just plain.

Were most of theirs attached to the handles like modern tomahawks or hatchets?
 
Triquetra said:
So the ones that I see with leather and bead wraps on the handle or horsehair decorations or something. Are these just something created by show not really by the NA's. Or were those created by the NA's just for ceremony but the ones they actually used every day or in battle just plain.

Were most of theirs attached to the handles like modern tomahawks or hatchets?
Click to expand...

I have seen early photos with scalp locks attached to hawks, the odd talisman, hide wraps but mainly tacks. Pipe tomahawks were not used in ceremony or smoked in ceremony. Sacred Pipes made with stone (Mainly Catlinite) (named after George Catlin who was the first whiteman to see the Red Pipestone quarries in Minn.) and long wooden stems. Those were used in Ceremony, never pipehawks. As I said in a previous post, the Siouxan tribes and the Cheyenne had the most decorated hawks sometimes with beaded hafts and usually with a beaded "drop". Here's a link to a Sioux hawk with a beaded and fringed drop. http://fineart.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=681&lotNo=77137

I have seen early hawks hafted like hatchets or axes but many more with the same haft as we use now.

Regards

Robin
 
Try this one, Snow Owl, collected originals, very nice authentic Tomahawks.

http://www.snowwowl.com/naarttomahawk.html

God Bless

Lee

p.s. I would add if you have one Hawk you intend to decorate, buying the components seperately will be expensive. Unless you know someone who does the Native American artifact repros, I'd strongly suggest you visit flea markets and thrift stores for your materials,,,you can PM me, if you have a question..
 
shooter_250 said:
Try this one, Snow Owl, collected originals, very nice authentic Tomahawks.

http://www.snowwowl.com/naarttomahawk.html

God Bless

Lee

p.s. I would add if you have one Hawk you intend to decorate, buying the components seperately will be expensive. Unless you know someone who does the Native American artifact repros, I'd strongly suggest you visit flea markets and thrift stores for your materials,,,you can PM me, if you have a question..
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Hello Lee
IMO not one of the hawks posted on the first page of that site are early hawks. There is NO WAY that warriors hung feathers and other Stuff all over their fighting hawks. Modern day decoration. There is a great deal of false information about all things Native, much of it found on some Native run sites. The one weapon I have seen hung with feathers are coup sticks, they are sometimes hung with Owl feathers, the Owl being the messengers of death in many tribes. Sacred Pipes were hung with Eagle feathers especially on Pipe known as Calumets on the east coast.

Regards

Robin
 
Pipe...you are right...Wareiors didn't decorate thier weapons,,,the women did...I have seen several weapons decorated with beads feathers and so on..My Grandmother had a wall full of them. But the decorated weapons like the beautiful costumes and carved pipistone pipes were usually only brought out for ceremonial purposes...

Miss Robin, I'm actually busier than a one-legged man in a tail kickin' contest at the moment, be glad to discuss this with you at length later. IN the forum of course,,Ma'am, I apologize if I seem short

God Bless

Lee
 
shooter_250 said:
Pipe...you are right...Wareiors didn't decorate thier weapons,,,the women did...I have seen several weapons decorated with beads feathers and so on..My Grandmother had a wall full of them. But the decorated weapons like the beautiful costumes and carved pipistone pipes were usually only brought out for ceremonial purposes...

Miss Robin, I'm actually busier than a one-legged man in a tail kickin' contest at the moment, be glad to discuss this with you at length later. IN the forum of course,,Ma'am, I apologize if I seem short

God Bless

Lee
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Hi there Lee

Ma'am ??????? That's funny. Last time I looked I was an old man ;-))))) Always interested in talking Native culture.

Best regards

Robin
 
Try this one, Snow Owl, collected originals, very nice authentic Tomahawks
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Snow Owl states several times the authenticity is his speculation, he took these photos from JRoache.
Quote from SnowOwls page "Not stated if reproduction or not; judging by apparent aging and condition of the iron head, it very well could be authentic."
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Heads may be original, all that stuff hanging off of them was put on for the tourists. Most of the lavish decoration was done on reservations for sale.

Here's a couple of documented late 1880's Crow 'hawks with the drops Robin was talking about. Pipes and coup sticks were much more decorated than weapons because of practicality ( hard to get blood out of bead and quill work.)

56422119crow1880.jpg
Crow-1840-drop1870.jpg


This would have been more of a fighting 'hawk Comanche 1840 Trade axe decorated with tacks

lf2-1.jpg


And some of the most sought after beadwork was done by males......Randy
 
First let me humbly apologize to Pipe, I truly am sorry, I honestly don't have a reason for thinking you were a lady, I just wrote it, I suppose assuming. I try never to assume but I reckon I did then...I do apologize Sir.

Church, That part about reproductions did not used to be on that website and there were several more pages of hawks as well as the hawks' descriptions. Snow Owl died several years ago, to be quite honest, I've not looked at the website for a very long time. Now I'm beginning to wonder if that is the site I was originally thinking about when I put my 2cents in. Let me do a little more looking...Snow Owl really sticks in my mind for the subject matter, wouldn't be the 1st time i've been wrong though.

God Bless

Lee
 
Hey Lee
"First let me humbly apologize to Pipe, I truly am sorry, I honestly don't have a reason for thinking you were a lady, I just wrote it, I suppose assuming. I try never to assume but I reckon I did then...I do apologize Sir."

;-))))) I have been called Much worse in my life Lee, no problem.

Best regards

Robin
 
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