The term tomahawk comes from the Algonquian people of Virginia, whose original words 'tamahak' or 'tamahakan' meant a utensil for cutting. It was used to strip bark from trees to make wigwams, to hollow out canoes and to chop wood for fire. Later on the tomahawk was used in fighting and it came to mean all kinds of striking weapons - wood clubs, stone-headed axes and metal hatchets. Today the tomahawk also gives its name to another weapon - a cruise missile, which is a low-flying, long-range military weapon.

The Native Americans used the tomahawk to fight, striking their enemies with it in hand-to-hand battle or throwing it from a distance. Indians were organised into tribes and they would usually undertake raids on each other in order to avenge an earlier attack or to capture horses. These raids involved small groups of warriors keen to prove their courage and daring. They would be given honours according to their skill and prowess in war. The four feats which granted them honours were: to touch an enemy with bare hands 'count coup'; to snatch his bow or arrow in hand-to-hand fighting; to cut a horse loose from an enemy's camp; and to be the leader of a raiding party. Killing or injuring an enemy with a weapon such as a tomahawk did not rank as highly as the other feats.

Since tomahawks featured in war they also appeared when warriors prepared themselves for a war party by dancing to songs and drumbeats. The purpose of the dance was to acquire power and courage. Dance movements dramatised the fighting actions: chasing the enemy, leaping towards him, striking a blow with the hand or tomahawk. Warriors did a victory dance to celebrate after the battle too. When the tomahawk was shaken during a dance it looked like a flying bird because to the feathers grouped together at one end.

Some Native Americans had the custom of ceremonially burying a tomahawk after peace had been reached with an enemy. The phrase 'to bury the hatchet' supposedly comes from this practice.

When Native American died, a filled pipe, food and the dead person's possessions were commonly placed alongside the body. A warrior might be laid to rest with his tomahawk, feather-decked coup stick, painted shield and even the body of his favourite horse so that its spirit might accompany him into the afterlife.

Tomahawks were made according to the materials available and the customs and styles of the time and region. Hafts could polished smooth, carved, scalloped, inlaid, branded with hot files, tacked, wrapped with copper or brass wire, covered with rawhide, leather or cloth, stained, painted and hung with every type of ornament imaginable. Some of the most elaborate tomahawks were intricately crafted with fancy engraving and pewter or silver inlaid blades and handles. These would be presented to important chiefs in order to commemorate treaties and seal friendships.

The tomahawk could embody Indian tribal patterns. Each tribe had its own designs and colour combinations. These patterns were usually basic shapes, like rectangles, triangles, diamonds and crosses, combined in a variety of ways. Triangles represented tipis and straight lines stood for pointed arrows. Colours often had symbolic meanings -red might mean the sunset or thunder and blue the sky. Individual braves personalised their tomahawks to distinguish them from other warrior's weapons within the tribe.

There are very few remaining real tomahawks. Of those tomahawks, each one is different from every other. There are variations in the decoration, blade or haft. The dating of tomahawks is not precise because only a few bear dates or the makers names.

This tomahawk is a souvenir made by Native Americans. Today, tomahawks are used mainly in ceremonies and as ornament. However, up to the 19th century, Native Americans used the tomahawk as a tool, weapon, sceptre and symbol. They used it like an axe to cut wood and as a weapon to strike opponents in fighting. It embodied the Native American traditions of handicraft, warfare, prestige, ceremony and personal comfort.

This tomahawk is made from wood, leather and stone. A round stone, polished and shiny, forms its head. A decorated thong runs over the top of the stone and a piece of white leather secures it to the haft, or stem. A piece of beaver fur, two feathers and beads decorate this souvenir, much like the decoration on a traditional tomahawk. The haft has a pattern of red and yellow beads, and a white leather handle makes it easy to grip. The tomahawk can be hung on a wall, as an ornament, from its loop.

The earliest tomahawks had stone heads, sometimes globe-shaped or with one or two edges sharpened. The stone was fastened to the handle in various ways, such as by putting the stone into a hole through the wood, tying the stone to the handle with thongs, or splitting the handle and tying it about the stone with thongs. Tomahawks with rounded heads were used as war clubs and were larger and stronger than this souvenir. Tomahawks with sharpened blades and short handles were known as hatchets and could chop and cut like an axe.