Use of the Sword by American Indian Tribes

[Jim McDougall]

In the queries section of an arms magazine, this image of a portrait of an Indian chief appeared, which clearly shows him wearing what appears to be a European saber. The question asked was, 'did American Indians actually use swords?'.

This painting (attached) is of Etoh Oh Koam, who was part of a delegation of leaders of the Iroquois Nation who were taken to London by the governor of New York in 1710. Queen Anne was notably impressed by these chiefs and they were treated like royalty, and she commissioned artist Jan Verelst to paint this portrait.

He is seen holding his ball type war club, but wearing a European saber of oriental style in the typical side sling position. So would this be a studio prop or possibly his own weapon? perhaps a diplomatic gift?

It is suggested that Indian tribes had acquired swords from Europeans as early as the 17th century, and perhaps the first illustrated record of their use was by a Pawnee warrior against the Spanish Villasur expedition in Nebraska in 1720. However it seems clear that the Eastern Woodland tribes were exposed to European items earlier as suggested, and military style gorgets were presented to the chiefs. Possibly a sword such as this may have been given to one or more chiefs and this was his own?

There were apparently far more situations in the American west in the 19th century with Indian use of the sword, as described in "Long Steel in the Buffalo Grass:The Sabre and the Plains Indian", Wayne Austerman ('Man at Arms" magazine Vol.12, #6, Nov/Dec 1990, pp.10-19).

It is noted (p.13) that the braves had a natural affinity for the captured sword or cavalry sabre due to the familiarity with the war club as the club had much in common with the blade.

In 1834, U.S. Dragoons met with Comanche's in Texas and the warriors were immediately enthralled by the gleaming long knives. it appears that this classic symbol of the U.S.cavalry was ultimately proudly carried by many a Sioux, Cheyenne, Kiowa and Comanche warrior.

In the summer of 1845, Lt. James Carlton of the 1st US dragoons meeting with Siox said, "...a great many of the Dacotahs have swords which they also purchased from the traders. They know nothing about using them but only use them for grandeur".
This observation was patently wrong.

Apparently the Bordeaux Trading Post in Chadron, Nebraska in the 1840s was selling imported swords, many of which were surplus British M1796 sabres.

Interestingly, while it is well known that Custer's troops left behind their sabers when headed for the Little Big Horn, however a number of the Indian warriors there ironically were using them.

The photo of Sitting Bull holding a sabre is was taken in Canada in 1878. This does not suggest he was using one at Little Big Horn, but simply holding this in the sense of these being regarded as symbols of authority and power.

[Edster]

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

[Jim McDougall]

Thank you for responding Ed, I wasn't sure if this unusual topic would meet with much interest, but very encouraged with your observations. To be quite honest, I had always pretty much shared your views, that as ceremonial items and symbolic regalia in the manner of bearing swords etc. was the only likely use for Indian tribes.

It does seem that largely this was true, symbolism in this culture was of course prevalent and case in point, a warriors shield was not intended primarily to defend a warrior physically, but spiritually and carried his totem or symbolic representation of significant beliefs. There were however apparently war shields as well made heavier with thicker leather.

As I added in the 1845 account, the dragoon lieutenant noted that while the Dakota Sioux had a number of swords, they did not know how to use them.
But the author of the article it was in, noted that indeed they did use them in degree.
The native illustrations illustrate using the saber, and from my understanding in studying these kinds of resources, the inclusion of this would be deemed reliable. While there is of course dramatic mythology and metaphysical subject matter in the oral traditions, paintings of events tend to be accurate (despite the rudimentary artistry).

The 'long knife' was indeed awkward, and Indian culture was skilled in the use of primitive weapons, but hardly the use of the saber. What I had not thought of was as the author pointed out, the hacking or slashing use of the saber was similar in action to that of the war club.
In Indian warfare one of the key factors important to the warrior was to reach his opponent, 'up close and personal', and one of the highest honors was to get directly in contact with an enemy and 'count coup'. That is effectively to strike him not necessarily with injury......in the sense..I could have killed you but I didnt.
To kill enemy with arrows or other from distance was not considered honorable or brave to a warrior,, but obviously necessary in overall combat.

However, swords were not always left unaltered, and quite frankly, many blades were cut down, primarily for the lance, which was indeed one of the key up close weapons of the Plains warrior. Naturally as steel was at a premium as Indians had no forging skills or knowledge generally, many blades ended up in knives. However, knives were readily available through traders, just as were guns (and clearly some swords).

Apparently, as the warriors were well aware of the use of the sword by the cavalry, and to have a sword which had been captured was symbolic of the victorious prowess of the warrior. It does not seem much of a reach that warriors would try to use the saber of the 'blue coat', much as they would sometimes take and wear his captured clothing, even carry his flag.

Ironically, the use of the saber was notably diminished by the Civil War in the Union forces, and quite honestly the derisive term 'old wristbreaker' for the heavy M1840 saber was well placed. This was due to lack of training in the use of the sword, and obvious focus on firearms. There were very few recorded injuries from swords in the war, and those that were seem to have been blunt force trauma (the swords were often simply not sharpened).

I had always thought that there was little use of the saber in the 'Indian Wars' but I have found that was incorrect. I had assumed this from knowing that Custer and his forces had left behind their swords before Little Big Horn.
Incredibly, the only use of the sword there was by a number of warriors, and there was at least one sword among various weaponry recovered from the battle.
(see the attached in previous post).

I agree that use of the saber in combat was limited, but was surprised with the well researched data presented in the 1990 article to learn that in degree they were.
The use of the sword symbolically is also detailed, and in one case it notes its use as a symbol of power of the chief, in the case of visitors, the saber would protect them being placed near them so they would not be harmed or threatened. I have not explained that entirely here but simply noted the instances.

[kronckew]

There are earlier threads here on this subject, I recall a post about a Native American warrior who carried a Japanese katana, how he'd come by it nobody knows.

[CutlassCollector]

Yes, I remember that Wayne. Amazing.
And here is some info.

https://history.nebraska.gov/sites/h...1987Swords.pdf

[Jim McDougall]

Thank you guys, there was indeed some presence of Japanese Samurai swords with American Indian tribes in the latter 19th century, but the only real evidence are two examples, this one with Indian scout Dog Child in Alberta sometime pre 1900, the other was one one the wall of Red Cloud's house at Pine Ridge, S.D. in 1890.

I recall talking with Dr Bleed on this some years ago, and this article, and with the Red Cloud example we can only speculate but there seem to be several possibilities. In one case there were diplomats from Japan in Wyoming regions near Red Cloud's agency in 1876 but no record of contact with him. However there were eleven diplomatic ventures by Red Cloud into Washington between 1876-1890 and as Japan had been entertaining diplomatic ventures to Washington in these years (with this theme in the Charles Bronson movie "Red Sun" 1971). It seems reasonable that Red Cloud would possibly have acquired this in those visits.

Dr Bleed spent quite a few years studying in Japan, and knows the swords well, and his notes on the Red Cloud sword are interesting, in that these fittings (handachi) were important and not the sort which might be seen on trade or less than entirely authentic sword.

On the Dog Child sword, this one has more specific provenance, as it coincides with the travel to Japan by the missionary to the Blackfoot in Alberta in 1895 to marry a lady missionary there, and they returned to Fort MacCleod, in Alberta where this photo was taken. Interestingly, this sword is in tachi fittings as is the sword in the Bronson movie.

There was little, if any, possibility of Japanese Nihonto being outside Japan prior to the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, which of course virtually dismissed the Samurai. While the traditions including sword making continued in degree in more covert manner, in the following years numbers of such swords would enter trade situations but not until early 20th century. These were not the same as other European and US swords obviously, and these two known examples were clearly diplomatic.

[David]

Originally Posted by Edster

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.

It should be noted that the Tlingit people were forging their own blades from ferrous material at least as early a the 18th century. Before the introduction of steel (either through trade or salvage) they used copper for their blades. There are even known use meteorite as a material for forging blades.
While these were generally dagger length, some of these daggers were as long a short swords (20" or more). They had knives and daggers that were mostly ceremonial, but also made blades meant for fighting and everyday uses.
https://warriorpublications.wordpres...rthwest-coast/

[Edster]

David,

Well said. It would be interesting to learn how they got their raw material. Did they smelt and refine iron ore from scratch? Research suggests that iron was independently bloomed & smelted in sub-Saharan Africa from iron-rich sand. The techniques apparently did not arrive via cultural diffusion as had been previously believed.

Best,
Ed

[David]

Originally Posted by Edster

David,

Well said. It would be interesting to learn how they got their raw material. Did they smelt and refine iron ore from scratch? Research suggests that iron was independently bloomed & smelted in sub-Saharan Africa from iron-rich sand. The techniques apparently did not arrive via cultural diffusion as had been previously believed.

Best,
Ed

I believe in most cases their iron source was from European sources, either as found scrap from ship wrecks and other abandoned resources or gotten in trade. Certainly some of their blades were re-dressed trade blades, but their are quite a god number that they obviously forged themselves.
Here is a link to a dagger in the Met that they date to 1780 which they say could have been either trade iron or from meteorite. I don't think iron/nickel meteorite requires smelting to forge it, though i could be wrong. I have yet to find any definitive information on who the Tlingit learned their forging skills from.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/717584
And the first article i posted above has this to say about material sources:
"The earliest record of steel blades on the coast comes from the Ozette archaeological site on the Washington coast, where 37 steel-bladed tools and but one beaver-tooth knife were found, indicating the ubiquitousness of the material. Prior to the advent of Euro-American trade, iron and steel would have arrived either via Native trade north from California and Mexico, or in the form of ship’s fittings in Asian wrecks that came ashore on the Pacific coast. Some such shipwrecks arrived as weather-beaten fragments of Chinese or Japanese vessels, while others arrived essentially intact, though dismasted and without their steering rudders, blown out to sea by typhoons along the Japanese coast and carried east by the prevailing currents. In some cases even some crew members survived, to be taken in by the resident populations*. In addition to ship’s fittings, woodworking tools were usually aboard these vessels for maintenance and minor repairs, and were also carried on some sailings as cargo. All of these materials and tools would have had a great impact on Native society and technology."

[David]

This is another Tlingit blade said to have been made from meteorite. I cannot confirm this, but i have read that folks believe they were making these meteorite blades even before European contact. But it is very possible they had contact from the Asian side that introduced these arts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS3b4kEnN20

[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.

[Jim McDougall]

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.

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.