DIY: How to Make Your Own Tomahawk

The word 'tomahawk' is an Algonquian term meaning 'a light battle axe.' Tomahawks are similar to the common American hatchet in terms of size and shape. They are also not too difficult to make yourself, and in this article I will explain the process.

Before the arrival of Europeans, Native Americans would use tomahawks made from stone heads attached to wooden handles that were secured by strips of rawhide. They used tomahawks for hunting, chopping, and other general uses, but mainly as weapons. Sometimes the entire handle would consist of only a length of stiff rawhide, while other types of tomahawks were carved from a single piece of wood - wide and flat at the top, and tapering to a round handle at the bottom.

According to an article in Backwoodsman magazine, Europeans began trading tomahawk heads to Native Americans about 400 years ago. Most of the traded variety were made from iron, while others were made from brass. The most common type of tomahawk had a socket or an eye into which a handle was inserted, while others were merely of the flat blade type set into a handle in the fashion commonly seen today. Also many Native Americans constructed tomahawks by setting flat pieces of scrap metal into handles that were secured with sinew or rawhide.

Some tomahawks also doubled as peace pipes, with the side opposite the blade having a pipe bowl, and a hole running down the handle of the tomahawk, through which tobacco could be smoked.

In America, various "re-enactors" have made tomahawk throwing a sport, which is currently growing in popularity.

Some soldiers even used professionally made tomahawks while fighting in the Vietnam War. And currently, in Afghanistan, Army soldiers are using the "Vietnam Tactical Tomahawk" made by the American Tomahawk Company.