A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and European settlers later introduced heads of iron and steel. The term came into the English language in the 17th century as an adaptation of the Powhatan (Virginian Algonquian) word.

Tomahawks were general-purpose tools used by Native Americans and later the European colonials with whom they traded, and often employed as a hand-to-hand weapon

Etymology

The name comes from Powhatan tamahaac, derived from the Proto-Algonquian root *temah- ‘to cut off by tool’. Algonquian cognates include Lenape təmahikan, Malecite-Passamaquoddy tomhikon, and Abenaki demahigan, all of which mean ‘axe’

History

The Algonquian people created the tomahawk. Before Europeans came to the continent, Native Americans would use stones, sharpened by a process of knapping and pecking, attached to wooden handles, secured with strips of rawhide. The tomahawk quickly spread from the Algonquian culture to the tribes of the South and the Great Plains.

Native Americans created a tomahawk’s poll, the side opposite the blade, which consisted of a hammer, spike or pipe. These became known as pipe tomahawks, which consisted of a bowl on the poll and a hollowed out shaft.

General Purpose Tool

Many Native Americans used tomahawks as general-purpose tools. Because they were small and light, they could be used with one hand. This made them ideal for such activities as hunting, chopping, and cutting. Both the Navajo and Cherokee peoples used them in this way. The development of metal-bladed tomahawks expanded their use even more. Most Native Americans had their own individual tomahawks, which they decorated to suit their personal taste. As Native American artwork shows, many of these were decorated with eagle feathers, which represented acts of bravery.

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  • rtstragedy [fae/faer, she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    3·
    60 minutes ago

    is it too much to ask for a music player that doesnt stutter why is my laptop like this? also finamp? i’m assuming it’s some kind of powersaving thing, and the desktop mode of finamp is in beta so

  • SoylentSnake [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    2·
    27 minutes ago

    since i started Doing Politics i have like 2-3 dozen new friendly acquaintances in the span of less than two months it kinda goes (would b nice if some of them evolved into full friends tho shy )

  • sewer_rat_420 [he/him, any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    2·
    38 minutes ago

    Hey everyone - I currently work in the growing gig economy of “AI training”. It isn’t really something I would recommend broadly, but I know that some people might appreciate some insight into it from my experience. It might work for some people as a good way to earn low-stress part-time remote work money. My personal experience, as someone with an advanced degree in the USA, I have been able to make at minimum $25/hr but on some occasions much much more ($60/hr PLUS “generous” incentives for completing a set number of tasks is the best I have gotten), although the availability of work is sometimes scarce and frustrating, and the biggest company in this space is downright evil and also incompetent.

    I was considering that an effortpost about it given my experiences might be valuable to some people - it isn’t anything I would recommend as a permanent reliable source of income but for now there is money that can be made if you are lucky. Would people be interested?

    • hexaflexagonbear [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
      1·
      41 minutes ago

      Ș̵̮̼̙̺͚͇̼̱͙̳̘̩̂̐̍̉͌̄́̋̏̀̍͐̈̍͘̕͘͝ͅę̵̲̱͓̤̗̪̠̩̹̰͎̥̪̣͙̲̌̌̏͊̊̃͛̎͊͠͠ͅĺ̴̨͈͖̗͗̾̾͂͝ȩ̷̨̱͔͚͈̰̜̼̠̹̙̪̤̳̗͓̳͉͉̜̃̅̓̑̾̽̌͋̊̾͛͆̑̆̾̓́̌̿̋͝͠ͅc̴̛͔̙͍̜͈̖̩̫̹͕͇̪͖̞̒̿̑͌̆͛͒̂͜ͅͅţ̴̧̡̩̥͉͍̞̮̠͚͈̺̩̪̞̾͛́͒̅͝ ̶̧̝͙͙̠̬͉͎̦̙̞̞̜̂̌͛̎̈̋̿̂͐̅̆ḁ̷̡̫͇̞̗̉ĺ̵̢̢̨̛͍͓͎̻͖̗̲͉̯͎͕͓̩̗̞͇̇͂̔̽̈̿̍̐͊̾̂̍̓̌̀̈́͘͝ĺ̷̼̝̲̖̝̟͍͉̗̼̲͇̩̝̰̲̊̌̇̓̐̉͝ ̸̡̧̰͖̮̰͇̩̺̬̙͋͋̌̋̿̓̉͊̅̔̕͘͝͠͝s̷͔̺͓͂q̷̧̫͚̗̖̞͎̭͖̦̪̘̳̙̗̩͔̪͕̳̒̑̈̀̏̆̄͛̄̃́̀̃̋̅̈́͘͝ư̷̧̛̛̠͖͚̙͕̪̺̲̤̗͓͗̐͛͆͂̋͛̒̃̈́̔͒̑͛͘͘͝͝͝ą̴̮̻͈̼͓̖͕̜̠͇͎̦̖̩̖̫͖̘͌͛́͒̈̐́͗̅͑́̓͂́͊͛̌̀̂͜͜͝ͅŕ̷̥͈͈̟̤̱̈́̈́͋̾̔͠ͅͅȩ̵̛̙͕̠̹̜̭̭͔̬̾̌͐̎́̋̅͗͑̋̈̎̄̕͘͘͘̚͠͝s̷̢̧̢͖̪͔͕͚͙̩̭̱̫̆̋̔̓̊͜ͅ ̶̧̦̤̦̳͈͔̝̗̦͖̺̦̗͉̹͉̼̆͛͝t̵̡͉̹̼͕̜̪̱̖͉͓̩̖̱̻͔̳̯̱̄͑̂̈́̇͂͜͜ͅh̷̢̥̙̥̘͇̤̗̱̪̫͈̪͕̘̉̓̀̊̈́̿͆̔͐͆́́̎͘͜͜͠ͅă̵̡̢̖̣͎̰̬̫͙͓͋͒͋͐̒̑̏́͒̂̽̉͛͝t̵̨̨̲̜͚̳͖̤͖̱̝͕̤̥̖̰͆̔͌́̐͌̉̾͛̄͒́͌̚̚͘͘͠͠͠͝͝ ̶̼̣̬̺̣͎͋͑͝ç̸̰̲͍͓̮̽̀̀̾͒͂̈͌̎̄̉̏͋̊̀̈́̊̉̒͘͠͝o̸̢͐̑͊͌̓́͐́͜n̸̛̛͎̝̳̔̈́̀̔̇͊̿̊̊̇̈́̔̀̂̍̈́͝ͅť̷̰͖̆̌̈̅͑a̵̞͔̘͉̱̭̼̹̤̙͙̎͛̑͑͛̽̈͂̇̉̽̆̆̌͒̌̈̕̚͜͠͝͝i̶̳̲̠͙̋̑̈̌͆͐̃͊͆͒̇̋̃͘̕ņ̶͎̣͉̳̩̮̝̠̱̝̺̳͚̰̤̋̓̎̅̃̓̒ ̴̧̧̨͍̥̮͍͉͕̘̥̬̲̪͉̱̠͐̃a̴̢̨̟̰͕̹̘̻͇̫̔͋̐́ ̵̢͇̹̥͓̬̳̤̙͈̏͒̓̊̆̋́̈́̃̆̃̓͛̃̈́̈́̉̋̋͘͜͠b̸̨̠̻̖̙̹̮̫̻͔̜̓̿̓̀̾̓̂̾̀͒́̈̂̐̍̊͜͝ĩ̴̧͇̭͔̩͔̙̭̗͉̠̓̀͐̂̀̒̈ḉ̶̡̧̳͈̙̯̗̗̝͙̹̦̭̣̖̰̦̘͊̎̓͋̆͝͝ỵ̵̧̨͕̤̖͇̼̹̣̹͕̝̺̄͗ͅc̴̹̭̤̥̣̜̦̐͒͊̂͆̽̿͝ļ̷̡̣̹͈̩̤͔͍͓̦̹̫̥̜̙̝̙̦͉̈́̃̄͂͊͒̌͝e̸̡̧̢̞̲̥̟͓̗͔͇͖͉͎̲̟͇͔̬̋

  • Poogona [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    3·
    21 minutes ago

    It has been months since I watched and yet my enthusiasm for Furiosa does not seem to have eroded

    It was so sick, action movie slop with some fucking PROTEIN for a change, I could write an essay about how clever it was and how subtly it went about it

  • dualmindblade [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    2·
    18 minutes ago

    So I seem to recall Biden threatened to begin thinking about maybe considering implementing possible consequences with regard to providing certain weapons if humanitarian conditions didn’t improve. Does anyone know if this happened?

  • DragonBallZinn [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    9·
    2 hours ago

    I’m sure someone much smarter than I have made this connection, but does anyone else feel like burgerland is both a colony (I mean, it is a settler colonial nation but you know what I mean) by the ruling class as well as an empire?

    The United States seems to be unique in how it embraces the imperial boomerang almost as part of its culture. In political science there’s this guns vs butter concept which is balancing how much to spend on defense and similar things (guns) vs butter (social programs, or pretty much everything else). The US subsidizes a lot of Europe’s military and this country is almost happy to be Europe’s personal attack dog, most likely to help it exploit Latin America and the Caribbean much more effectively. Domestically, austerity is practically a way of life. Little to no workers rights, abysmal and ugly infrastructure, a decreasing literacy rate, no universal healthcare, and education is now changing to be something only for the rich with literacy rates going down the toilet and a culture of fervent anti-intellectualism. All of this really makes you think “all that imperialism for THIS!?” But then that hit me: what if all this exploitation isn’t solely the idea of the American elites. Sure, they most definitely benefit a lot, but I doubt that they’re the sole beneficiaries as the ruling class is every bit as internationalist as the proletariat, so no doubt that American elites have a stronger sense of class solidarity than their so-called “nationalistic” fervor they so hypocritically claim.

    I’m already aware of shit like segregation and both The Color of Law and The New Jim Crow are on my reading list, so I know that this is the case because of what the federal government as done to non-white communities, but ironically the imperial boomerang steps in and they do similar things to the very white people they claim to be fighting for the interests of. I forgot where, but a kkk member joked that if they ever got their ethnostate they’d just oppress each other.