The Axe and the Tomahawk.

I have been recieving some education regarding axes and tomahawks, I went looking for it because I found myself becoming increasingly confused with various terms used in this century(21st). The article below is only a small sample of the information available at the link I shall provide, and I found it well worth reading.
This also explains the terms used when refering to the woodsman's tools being the gun, the knife and the axe. I have always thought of an axe being large, certainly not the size of a tomahawk, and I was wrong. Also I have always thought of the tomahawk using the particular helve or haft that does not require a wedge to secure the head, and the axe requiring a wedge, wrong again!
From what I have read so far, a tomahawk is a tool/weapon that has a specific type of poll, that with a spike or a pipe bowl. But it can also have a hammer poll. Anyway, read the following and see what you think. Personally I am still finding some grey areas! But I now know more than I did before reading this article.

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Trade Rates in 1812 at Fort Astoria, Columbia River
One half-axe = four beaver
Hatchet = two beaver
Yard of cloth = four beaver
Yard of cotton = two beaver
Large knife = two beaver
Five leaves of well-twisted tobacco = one beaver
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Trade axes of today were called 'Camp Axes' or 'Squaw Axes' or just plain 'Hatchets' in the records of the fur traders and in the words of Indians. We know they were distributed from at least 1570 to about late 19th C. although common axes of the period were traded to Indians before that. They came from Holland, France, England, Canada, Spanish colonies & America. They were used primarily as tools but also as weapons if the need arose (spike tomahawks also were used as tools at times although their main purpose was as a weapon). Trade axes have been greatly maligned by the collectors of the much more expensive pipe tomahawks who claim they were never used as weapons although in the same breath the lighter trade axe of 1lb or less is accepted as a weapon/tool by most. Is it the same as a tomahawk? That depends on your definition, but definitions have been changing through out the historical period and still are. Initially, during the earliest contact period, ANY hatchet or axe used by Native Americans was referred as a tomahawk.

The reality is they used what they had, what they could afford and what was available.

The above article and some of the images curtesy of:

http://furtradetomahawks.tripod.com/id11.html

Cyrano de Bergerac

A Woodsrunner's Knives.

The Woodsman’s Knives.



When interpreting a woodsman or woods woman of the 18th century, it is important to think of the uses these knives were put to then, not how you might use a knife now. Three tools are synonymous with the 18th century woodsrunner, the gun, the knife, and the axe or tomahawk. These days these items tend to be classed as weapons, but to me they are working tools just like any other tool, but they did sometimes have to function as a weapon, and it is important to bear that in mind when making your selection.


So what was the woodsrunner’s knives used for? Let’s start with the hunting knife. The hunting or belt knife was used to field dress game, which means gutting, cutting the meat, dismembering, and skinning. Boning out the meat may also be involved. I don’t believe there is an all round knife, you either need more than one knife for butchering game, or you need to find a middle of the road knife that works for you. For me a skinning knife needs to be rounded at the tip, this is especially good for slitting the skin open from crotch to chest. But there are other needs for the hunting knife.


Sometimes an animal does not die instantly, this is not desirable, but it does happen. When this does happen I need a sharp pointed knife. I will not go into detail here, as it may distress some people, but this is one of the responsibilities you take on when you hunt wild animals.


As I said before these tools may also be needed for fighting, so once again, although I would prefer a more rounded tip on the knife, I really do need a good sharp point. I like a big knife, a short bladed knife is good for skinning but for a main knife I need something big. At the same time I do not like a heavy knife, and my preferences seem to have been universal, as the majority of 18th century hunting knives appear to have been butcher knives, sometimes known as scalping knives.

My hunting knife.

Two well used original butcher knives with pinned wooden handles.

The Courier De Bois it is said carried three knives, a hunting knife under the belt, a neck knife, and a legging knife. Rather than carry a neck knife I prefer to carry a clasp knife. The clasp knife I use for camp chores and making traps. This involves a lot of shaving and whittling of wood, some of it very fine intricate work that needs a small knife. You could use a fixed blade utility knife; it is a matter of choice.

This was my Father’s utility knife, and it is typical of this type of 18th century knife.

This is one of my late 18th century clasp knives.

http://coolmaterial.com/roundup/the-history-of-the-pocket-knife/;

A 17th century gully knife.

The legging knife is in my case a back-up knife. It needs to be light and short bladed, but it may be used for field dressing game, or as a quick to hand fighting knife if the main knife is lost. When field dressing game you need to be fast, and at the same time you need to keep a sharp look-out and listen for any sounds out of the ordinary. Sometimes you can strike a bone in this sort of situation which will dull your blade. You do not have time to resharpen your blade unless it is the only knife you have, so this is when you use the back-up knife.

This is my legging knife. Actually I have used this knife quite a lot over the years for various leatherwork, principally for making moccasins.

If you carry a knife, then you need to carry a whet stone. This is the small whet stone I carry in my knapsack.

A Michael Galban neck knife and sheath.

Cathy Sibly sheath with a Bill Reynolds knife.

18th Century printing Press.

Pierre de Maupertuis & the Lapland Expedition to Find the True Shape of the Earth in the 18th

NWC unterwegs im Nordkanu

Woodland Indian Education. Supplied by Martin.

Savage, the French term used for woodland Indians. They did of course have their own form of education, but they were also able to make speeches that would make a modern politition envious. Here below is a story supplied by Martin, a fellow blog follower.

Your account of James Smith's adventure reminded me of the following story:


When Ben Franklin was in Paris he wrote a short article on Indians that told of an exchange, possibly apocryphal, between Virginian leaders and representatives of the Six Nations at the treaty negotiations in Lancaster, PA, back in 1744. The Virginians made a dramatic offer to educate six Indian youths at the College of William and Mary and bring them into the fold of white civilization. The speaker for the Six Nations responded politely - any other form of response would be unthinkable from an Indian chief - but he made it clear that his people were not interested in the white man's offer:


"Several of our young People were formerly brought up at the Colleges of the Northern Provinces, they were instructed in all your Sciences; but, when they came back to us, they were bad Runners, ignorant of every means of living in the Woods, unable to bear either Cold or Hunger, knew neither how to build a Cabin, take a Deer, or kill an Enemy, spoke our Language imperfectly, were therefore neither fit for Hunters, Warriors, nor Counsellors; they were totally good for nothing. We are however not the less oblig'd by your kind Offer, tho' we decline accepting it; and to show our grateful Sense of it, if the Gentlemen from Virginia will send us a Dozen of their Sons, we will take great Care of their Education, instruct them in all we know, and make Men of them."


There is no record of the Gentlemen from Virginia taking the Iroquois up on their offer.
Yours,
Martin