A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and European settlers later introduced heads of iron and steel. The term came into the English language in the 17th century as an adaptation of the Powhatan (Virginian Algonquian) word.

Tomahawks were general-purpose tools used by Native Americans and later the European colonials with whom they traded, and often employed as a hand-to-hand weapon

Etymology

The name comes from Powhatan tamahaac, derived from the Proto-Algonquian root *temah- ‘to cut off by tool’. Algonquian cognates include Lenape təmahikan, Malecite-Passamaquoddy tomhikon, and Abenaki demahigan, all of which mean ‘axe’

History

The Algonquian people created the tomahawk. Before Europeans came to the continent, Native Americans would use stones, sharpened by a process of knapping and pecking, attached to wooden handles, secured with strips of rawhide. The tomahawk quickly spread from the Algonquian culture to the tribes of the South and the Great Plains.

Native Americans created a tomahawk’s poll, the side opposite the blade, which consisted of a hammer, spike or pipe. These became known as pipe tomahawks, which consisted of a bowl on the poll and a hollowed out shaft.

General Purpose Tool

Many Native Americans used tomahawks as general-purpose tools. Because they were small and light, they could be used with one hand. This made them ideal for such activities as hunting, chopping, and cutting. Both the Navajo and Cherokee peoples used them in this way. The development of metal-bladed tomahawks expanded their use even more. Most Native Americans had their own individual tomahawks, which they decorated to suit their personal taste. As Native American artwork shows, many of these were decorated with eagle feathers, which represented acts of bravery.

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Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):

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  • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.net
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    3 days ago

    YouTube keeps recommending me that 3 hour video about why starship troopers is bad satire. So I caved. 41 minutes in and it’s well researched and has a bibliography and stuff but seems to miss something thst can be really easily read from the film; it’s an in universe propaganda film. It’s not explicitly showing the downsides of fascism cause the idea is that it’s for an already Sci fi fascist audience. The would you like to know more bits aren’t family guy style cutaways. I thought it was obvious as hell this movie wasn’t meant as a straight depiction of events, it’s a fictional propaganda piece. Unless that’s addressed than the whole premise kinds falls apart for me.

    • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.net
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      3 days ago

      So far I’m getting Everything Must be Didactic or the Fascists Win vibes. As someone who doesn’t think we should compromise anything let alone art in the face of fascists even if you risk them totally not getting the point and liking it. They’ll do it to whatever you make anyway. The last thing you should consider when making art is what fascists will think of it, hopefully they aren’t your audience.

      • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.net
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        3 days ago

        I’m playing f zero while listening and holy hell is this guy just brutally missing the most obvious thing about the movie. See my first post. Dude is taking 3 hours to elaborate on his fundamentally wrong premise. Gave up. I hate this kind of analysis SO much.

        • hexaflexagonbear [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          2 days ago

          Spending all that time researching and writing a script only to recreate a bad interpretation of the film from the 1980s. Like I’m pretty sure the critical reappraisal of the film would already contain counterpoints to the points this guy is making. Like is this take out of a time capsule?

          • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.net
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            2 days ago

            Pretty much. It’s a WELL AKSHUALLY IT NEVER EXPLICITLY SAYS FASCISM IS BAD. Never mind that if you look at it just barely beyond face value it totally does. I got this in jr high

      • FunkyStuff [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        2 days ago

        What if, instead of Everything Must be Didactic or the Fascists Win, we make more art like Sorry to Bother You that isn’t didactic but is still pretty impossible to misinterpret? Surely there’s a better way to make antifascist art than making the same thing a fascist would make but taken slightly too far.

          • FunkyStuff [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            2 days ago

            It is, and I think the majority of the fascists that misinterpret it probably realize that it’s not meant to be fascist propaganda. It’s just like how we sometimes look at anticommunist stuff that portrays us as extremely powerful and hot rebels and we embrace it. Not all fascists are media illiterate, and many are cynical enough to see the utility of signal boosting media that plays into the image that they unironically believe in.

    • Barx [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      2 days ago

      It’s great satire for an audience with a basic education in propaganda and fascism.

      Unfortunately most people are awash in fascistic thought and don’t even realize it because it doesn’t have swastikas on it.

    • Caruna [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      3 days ago

      I thought it was just an action movies about killing bugs who fucked with us.

      I was super excited about us getting payback and left the movie thinking that I would like to become a starship trooper some day

    • HarryLime [any]@hexbear.net
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      3 days ago

      I feel like if the audience is smart, they should be able to just get the satire without needing to see any other side, or having something tell them what the point is? That’s basically how good writing works.