Jim,
A very intriguing question. My take is as you say swords were mainly used as symbols of authority and power. But no widely used in combat other than maybe anecdotal accounts. As we know the traditional Native American material culture and tool kit, including weapons, was derived from natural materials; wood, reeds, stone, flint, shells, animal skins, etc and not ferrous metals.
Steel trade knives were widely introduced by early 19th C. fur traders. Steel was substituted for flint and chert. They continued as a primary utility tool and weapon; handy and always carried. Other trade items were adopted due to their utility; rifles, pots and Hudson Bay blankets. In the late 19th c. repeating rifles were preferred over the single shot rifles used by the US military, re the Little Big Horn.
Thus swords were too big & awkward, had no utility value and only marginal as a weapon. They did have, in my view, only symbolic value.
Best,
Ed
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