Native American style War Club by Tim Scholl

B

Buddy Thomason

Well-Known Member
Tim Scholl took a beautiful piece of wood and made his version of a Native American war club. I shot three of his blades for submission to the magazines in trade for it because I've always wanted one of these but never got around to making it a priority. So it was just one of those situations that spontaneously worked out. I don't know much about the history of these things but the idea of having to use one as a weapon gives me the willies. Seems like delivering a mortal blow could be tricky. Maybe they were more ceremonial in nature. Of the books I have about tomahawks, trade blades and related stuff there are very few of these pictured and no real discussion about them. I'm open to being educated if anyone has some knowledge to share.

orig.jpg
 
Last edited:
Buddy - Nice club. These were widely used as weapons and not just ceremonial. They were used in both the east and west and well into the 1800's. George Catlin inlcudes several in his works and even some being used while hunting grizzly bear. The gunstock appellation was used by Europeans since it resembles the stock but they were in use before the arrival of guns in the New World and were never made from a gunstock.
I'll try and post some pics of some originals, including one in an Aztec painting.
Here's one of the pics by Catlin showing a gunstock warclub.

Later ones used on the plains often had a narrow stock and multiple blades.
 
Thanks guys. Chuck - Thanks for the info. Your comment concerning the grizzly bear caused me to stop and think. Obviously my limited information and understanding was preventing me from grasping the role of a club weapon such as this one. I was thinking of a one on one context and while that likely happened, I realized no single weapon could serve all purposes. Among my books I found a section that dealt with weapons in The Mystic Warriors of the Plains by Thomas E. Mails. I have no idea about the credibility of this tome but it is encyclopedic in scope. It helped me understand that clubs were a select part of a war or hunting party's arsenal. The array of weapons included bows and arrows, lances, knives, axes and clubs - each designed for a different purpose. The author claimed that most members of these small parties could use all of the above effectively and together they were a formidable force, tough to defeat until the repeating rifle arrived on the scene. Following this I began to read about the decoration of these weapons - another eye-opener for me.

This club measures 24 inches in length and the blade is roughly 3 1/4 inches.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top