Native American spike tomahawk, fur trade pole axes and skinning knives

[M ELEY]

Here we have a nice hammer poll axe that was obviously sold to a Native American, who refitted it with trade beads and a nice curving haft. The head is of a wedge-shaped pattern, blacksmith-made with oval eye. The shape of the haft was a popular feature around mid-century (ca 1850), but the head probably much earlier. The incredible beadwork, with tiny thread, were trade 'seed' beads and they were from the period 1760 all the way up to the late 19th. These trade beads are from Venice (where the vast majority of trade beads came from. 'Wampum', fine Venician glass beads sewn onto fabric or hide, was both a sign of power and importance among the Indian tribes). This chevron pattern is particularly eye-catching.

This axe came from an old house in the Efland, North Carolina region (a flat pastural region in the Piedmont that is still very rural even in modern times). The chief tribes in NC were the Waccamaw (coastal), Catawba (central NC) and Cherokee (mountain regions), so I believe one of these tribes to have possessed this axe. The head measures 6" from hammer to edge, with the blade width 2 1/2".