What’s the meaning of the bleeding heart on some tomahawk heads?

Edwood7

Edwood7

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What’s the meaning of the bleeding heart (or sometimes called the weeping heart) on some tomahawk heads?
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I’ve seen the heart cut out on a lot of tomahawk heads but only recently realized that I don’t really know why they are there.:confused:

I've never seen a concrete reason for the heart.


I’ve hear people say that the heart was the heart and soul of the axe. It was removed by a shaman during a ritual before a great battle.

What’s the real story behind it?

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here's another story

"Some say that there was a great warrior born in the Oconaluftee village deep in the Smokey mountains. His mother, knowing of his future greatness, took the iron heart form her fathers axe and placed it over her own sons heart. The child grew into a fierce warrior, and no matter what struck him in his heart he was protected by the iron."

i do historical reenactments, and there are more stories than tomahawks

edit: it's probably to identify the liberal hawks.
 
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Is that your RMJ or a pic of one you found online?
 
Somewhere, I recall reading a guy who made a very good argument that originally it was not a heart at all, but a linden leaf. The linden tree had allegorical significance in historical Europe.
 
I think it would be difficult to nail down - though I have some brains I'll pick on the subject...when it comes down to it there were a lot of decorations used because it was trendy to use them at that time (sound familiar today?) be it a heart, a crescent moon, bowie knife or simple triangle. Whatever the reason they certainly do break up the space in a pleasing way.
If I find out anything soon I'll be sure to post.
RMJ
 
I have studied Native culture and art for about 40 years and have seen the heart used on many different items but never on a pre contact piece.It was in early use as piercings and tooling on trade silver and also on Iroquoian made silver. I have seen Many Mi kmaq crooked knives and carved boxes, sometimes in groups of four hearts making up a pinwheel. You can also find it in bead work used to represent flowers and background patterning. I have never seen an early quillwork piece with the heart motif. It was likely related to the early trade silver cut out work most directly. Most of the beadwork patterns used were directly related to early asian rugs where variations of the heart can be seen.

Best regards

Robin
 
Thanks for the imfo Robin ,
Ive just about finnished a bleeding hart one just the handle to do
could never get enough imfo about it
so many different stories .
Chris
 
I have an original bleeding heart pipe tomahawk that was given to me in 1981 by my Grandfather. His grandmother (grandma TallChief) had given it to him shortly before her death in 1960, she was 90 years old. It originally belonged to her father Chief Peter Bigheart, (1838-1915) Chief of the Osage tribe. He was elected principal Chief of the Osages in 1908, before that, he was Chief of the William Penn Band of the Osage Tribe. In 1886 Grandma traveled with him and his relative Chief James Bigheart to Washington. Both men spoke English and were on the council that worked out the provisions of the Osage Allotment Act. When my mother was little she said grandma TallChief used to tell her stories about the tomahawk being carried during the trail of tears ordeal when the Osages were moved from Kansas and Missouri into northern Oklahoma.
As far as the weeping or bleeding heart in the blade, I had always heard over the years that it was a trademark used by a company in New England during the 17 and 1800's. These tomahawks were traded to the Osage and other tribes by French fur traders. These Tomahawks were purely ceremonial and were never sharpened. On this hawk you can see the file marks that were created by heating up a file and burning the surface of the handle. I've have never done anything to the hawk, she looks the same as the day it was given to me 30 years ago when I was 7 years old.
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Has that been cleaned? its in amazing shape for an old hawk! very very nice looking piece! thanks for sharing it.
 
That's what I get asked every time I've had it appraised over the years. I've never done anything to it except dust it off every once in awhile.
 
Whatever concoction of steel they used for that one they hit the nail on the head then, I'd expect a little more patina but you can definitely tell the steel is old (like japanese period katana, the ones I've handled were a couple hundred years old and looked mint).

Great piece of family history, hope it stays in your family for many generations to come. :)
 
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