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Originally Posted by colin henshaw
Certainly an interesting topic and its good to see American Indian weapons being discussed on the forum. Coincidentally, I have just finished reading an excellent and scholarly essay by James A. Hanson on this very subject of swords used by American Indians. The essay is contained in "The Encyclopedia of Trade Goods - Gun Accessories & Hand Weapons of the Fur Trade" published by Museum of the Fur Trade, Chadron, Nebraska, USA., 2021.
From what Hanson says, it seems the use of swords by Native Americans was more extensive than previously thought. He states " By the early eighteenth century most tribes had readily adopted the European weapon" and "the Sioux and Cheyenne used such weapons in numerous documented cases" and other similar statements. There are many reproduced photos and pictures of American Indians with swords in the essay.
There is also an essay on North West Coast and Northern knives in the book; it seems there was indeed some forging of steel knives by the Native Americans themselves... a quote.. "McKennan reported that the Yukon antenna knives were made by the Tanana who used old steel files".
In my view the encyclopedia is an excellent resource for anyone interested in Native American weapons etc.
Moderators - I hope these quotes are OK in respect to copyright, if not please delete them. I have not reproduced more images etc from the book for this reason.
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This is excellent Colin!!! and Mr. Hanson is a remarkable authority, as is the publication of this museum...I wish I had the full run of these quarterlies!
It does not surprise me that some forging or more involved metal work was done by certain tribes as they were skilled and innovative at using virtually everything. It is good that you are cautious in using copyrighted material and here I would just add my understanding, that limited use of quoted material is permitted in scholarly study as long as properly cited.
Thank you for the heads up on this book.