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pipe tomahawk
pipe tomahawk
pipe tomahawk
Tomahawk pipe, Northeastern North American or Plains. Made between 1764 and 1862. Collected by William Bragge and purchased by the British Museum from W. Wareham in 1882.
This axe is of the sort made by the British and dispersed to First Nations peoples at treaty signings.
Created with information from the British Museum accession record and observations made by the GRASAC research team.
Read More About This Relative
The shaft and mouthpiece are made of a hard wood. The pipe hole and axe head are iron.
The wooden mouthpiece is intricately carved, with a fluted lip flange.
An inscription appears on the pipe. See "Symbolism and Interpretation."
This pipe has a board of ordinates on it: three lines forming a peak or a closed trap, or arrow, with B.O. inscribed underneath, indicating it was officially given by the British Government. These sorts of pipes were given out by the British to the Anishinaabe and Hodenosaunee.
1764 to 1862, as this is the period in which treaties were signed. Tomahawk pipes were used at treaty signings.
Provenance
Purchased by the British Museum in 1882 from W. Wareham and collected by William Bragge. The British Museum purchased this item using the Christy Fund, five thousand pounds set aside by the English ethnologist Henry Christy to be used to further his collection after his death.
About This GRASAC Record
Unknown artist, pipe tomahawk. Currently in the British Museum, Am,Dc.72.a. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip December 2007; GRASAC item id 25374.
This record was created as part of a Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts and Cultures (GRASAC) research trip to the Pitt Rivers Museum and British Museum, December 8-22 2007, funded by a grant from the International Opportunities fund of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).
Researchers present: Heidi Bohaker (HB), John Borrows (JB), Lindsay Borrows (LB), Alan Corbiere (AC), Jonathan King (JK), Henrietta Lidchi (HL), Darlene Johnston (DJ), Stacey Loyer (SL), Janis Monture (JM), Bruce Morito (BM), Ruth Phillips (RP), Anne De Stecher (AS), Cory Willmott (CW).