Tomahawk was a small ax that the Native Americans of North America used as a tool and a weapon. Most tomahawks measured less than 18 inches (45 centimeters) long and were light enough to be used with one hand. Early tomahawks consisted of a head (top part) made of stone or bone mounted on a wooden handle. Some tomahawks ended in a ball or knob instead of a flat blade. After Europeans arrived in America, native people traded with them for iron tomahawk heads.
Native Americans used tomahawks to chop wood, to drive stakes into the ground, and for other purposes. Warriors used tomahawks as clubs or threw them at their enemies. Tomahawks also served as hunting weapons.
The pipe tomahawk had a pipe bowl on the head and a hollow handle and could be smoked as a ceremonial pipe. European settlers made pipe tomahawks for trade and presented them as gifts to Native American leaders at treaty signings. Native American people decorated these tomahawks with feathers or dyed porcupine quills.
Some people think the expression bury the hatchet came from a Native American custom of burying a tomahawk to pledge peace. However, many scholars doubt that there ever was such a custom.
