Hunting & War
Historically, many of the same tools used in war were used in hunting. This includes bows and arrows, knives, and clubs. Hunters and warriors often wore animal skins for their supernatural powers in battle and as decoys when hunting.
The primary tool for hunting large and small game was the bow and arrow. For smaller game, hunters used a blunt- tipped arrow to stun or kill the animal without destroying the meat. For larger animals, such as the bison, they utilized tipped arrows. Usually, women used knives and scrappers to remove the skin and prepare the hide. Heavy clubs were used to crack bone in order to extract marrow.
Warriors used war clubs only for battle. Long-handled clubs with a stone affixed to the top were known as “skull crackers.” Wooden clubs with a crescent-shaped top were known as gunstock warclubs. Gunstock warclubs appeared in the early-nineteenth century in the eastern woodlands and were modeled after the stock of a rifle.
Objects
![Rabbit Stick](/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1983.32.04.jpg)
Rabbit Stick
Likely Southwest, Pueblo
![Bone Hammer](/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1983.32.15.jpg)
Bone Hammer
Likely Northern Plains, Lakota
![Hide Scraper](/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2012.18.3.jpg)
Hide Scraper
Effie Blaine
Northern Plains, Nebraska, Pawnee
![Dragon Fly (Kaikanhoda) Shield](/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1996.27.0747.jpg)
Dragon Fly (Kaikanhoda) Shield
Vanessa Jennings
Kiowa
![Shield](/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1996.27.0751.jpg)
Shield
Vanessa Jennings
Kiowa
![Skull Cracker War Club](/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1983.32.21.jpg)
Skull Cracker War Club
Possibly Southwest
![Tomahawk Pipe](/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1982.27.37.jpg)
Tomahawk Pipe
Northern Plains, Lakota
![Blunt-Tip Arrow](/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1983.32.27.jpg)
Blunt-Tip Arrow
Possibly Southwest
![Arrow With U.S. Flag Motif](/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1971.13.09.3.jpg)
Arrow With U.S. Flag Motif
Northern Plains
![Bow with Cherokee Alphabet](/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1970.13.1.jpg)
Bow with Cherokee Alphabet
Eastern Woodlands, Cherokee
![Gunstock War Club](/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2022.44.jpg)
Gunstock War Club
Dan Beaver
Eastern Woodlands, Muscogee