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
Likely Southwest, Pueblo
Bone Hammer
Likely Northern Plains, Lakota
Hide Scraper
Effie Blaine
Northern Plains, Nebraska, Pawnee
Dragon Fly (Kaikanhoda) Shield
Vanessa Jennings
Kiowa
Shield
Vanessa Jennings
Kiowa
Skull Cracker War Club
Possibly Southwest
Tomahawk Pipe
Northern Plains, Lakota
Blunt-Tip Arrow
Possibly Southwest
Arrow With U.S. Flag Motif
Northern Plains
Bow with Cherokee Alphabet
Eastern Woodlands, Cherokee
Gunstock War Club
Dan Beaver
Eastern Woodlands, Muscogee