Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Summer 2005
Department 1
History
Abstract
Since the colonial era, the tomahawk has served as a symbol of Indian savagery in American arts and literature. The pipe tomahawk, however, tells a different story. From its backcountry origins as a trade good to its customization as a diplomatic device, this object facilitated European-Indian exchange, giving tangible form to spoken metaphors for war, peace, and alliance. The production, distribution, and use of the pipe tomahawk also illustrated contrasting Indian and European notions of value and utility in material objects, exposing the limits of such goods in promoting cross-cultural mediation and understanding.
Copyright Note
This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Recommended Citation
The definitive version was published as Shannon, Timothy J. (2005). Queequeg's Tomahawk: A Cultural Biography, 1750-1900. Ethnohistory, 52(3), 589-633. http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/00141801-52-3-589.
Required Publisher's Statement
This version is the original submission of the article, "Queequeg's Tomahawk: A Cultural Biography, 1750-1900," Enthnohistory, Summer 2005, v. 52, no. 3, p589-633.
All rights reserved. Copyright held by Duke University Press. This work may not be reproduced in any form by any means without written permission from the publisher.