Mythic Americas: Imagining the Past
A series exploring the historical and mythological inspiration behind the tabletop game Mythic Americas by Mythicos Studios.
The Tomahawk
By Matt Hall
In the game Mythic Americas, players control warbands consisting of tabletop miniatures each representing a human, beast or mythical warrior from a variety of Pre-Columbian cultures within the Americas. In building warbands, players make important decisions about how to best equip their warriors to be most able to achieve victory. When leading a Tribal Nations warband into battle, for example, players have access to the tomahawk special weapon which increases a warrior’s Strength statistic, gives its attacks a Strike Value of +1, as well as an Exchange of Missiles attack. In this article we will look at this archetypal American weapon.
The term tomahawk is a derivation of the Powhatan word tamahaac meaning “to cut off by tool”. Early versions featured stone or flint ax heads attached to a wooden shaft. Native warriors would refer to any such hand-held striking weapon as a tamahakan. Later, metal ax heads would be introduced by Europeans. These became highly sought-after trade items due to the superior edge retention of steel. So much so that, in time, European or colonial-produced metal ax heads became ubiquitous among Native warriors and colonial frontiersmen, alike.
Tomahawks come in many shapes and sizes; however, each consists of an edged stone or metal head affixed to a wooden handle. A typical metal tomahawk, such as those carried in the Northeastern part of the United States during the French and Indian War, resembled a small ax, or hatchet, with a narrow, hooked cutting edge. Opposite the cutting edge was often a hammer poll or spike. Similar to an ax head, the head of the tomahawk was forged to include an ovoid hole, or “eye”, between the spine of the cutting blade and the poll in order to serve as the point of attachment for a tapered wooden handle shaft. Tomahawk handle lengths varied depending on the preferences of the owner but were typically between sixteen to twenty inches in length. This straightforward design was quite durable and required very little maintenance aside from occasional oiling, sharpening and periodical replacement of the handle. This maintenance could easily be completed in the field. In fact, the head itself could be used to cut and shape a new handle shaft in the event the tomahawk handle cracked during an outing.
The simplicity of the tomahawk belies its effectiveness as a weapon, however. In close quarters, it is an extremely versatile weapon capable of delivering devastating slashes and penetrating strikes with the cutting edge as well as brutal crushing blows with the poll - the back part of the axe head. In addition, the hooked beard of the blade could be used to trap an opponent’s limb or to pull them off balance. A tomahawk is a deadly weapon at distance, as well. It could be thrown by a skilled warrior up to fifty feet resulting in grievous injury sufficient to incapacitate an enemy no matter if the weapon struck edge first or not. It is no wonder the tomahawk has withstood the test of time and still sees service in the kit of professional soldiers today. In fact, this most American weapon has seen action in every American conflict since the French and Indian War including World War 2, the Vietnam War, and most recently, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
If you are interested in learning more about the tomahawk, I recommend the following:
Tomahawk: Materiality and Depictions of the Haudenosaunee by Scott Manning Stevens
The Fighting Tomahawk: An Illustrated Guide to Using the Tomahawk and Long Knife as Weapons by Dwight C. McLemore
American Indian Tomahawks by Harold L. Peterson
