Huron War Club

[Carl Dumke]

Just put the final touches on a Huron War Club.  The club is carved from tige maple from Tiger Hunt.  It was stained dark wtih Aqua Fortis and hand rubbed with tung oil.  The brass cone tacks are aged.  The design is burned into the wood.  The handle has carved finger notches and ends with a deer foot pommel.  The hoof is burned to achieve the darker color.  I wanted the club to have a very used, historic look.  Did it work?  Thanks!

[Beaverman]

Very nice!

[Tim Crosby]

 That is Super. Very Nice work.

 Tim C.

[Nate McKenzie]

Very good club but please educate me. I've often wondered how the Indians could make something this fancy with their primitive tools. Could they have been a trade item from the white man?

[Carl Dumke]

Very good club but please educate me. I've often wondered how the Indians could make something this fancy with their primitive tools. Could they have been a trade item from the white man?

Nate,
The Native Americans did have sharp flint and obsidian tools--some sharper than most steel at the time.  Also, much like making a dugout canoe, they would use fire to char the wood and then scrape to the desired shape--learned that here at the Jamestown settlement near here in Williamsburg.  The more elaborate clubs were made after the introduction of steel tools with the white settlers--so yes, in a way this one would have been common in the early 1700s.

[A.Merrill]

    Yes, an the deer hoof is a nice touch. Good job.    AL

[greybeard]

Very nice work. I bet a smack along side the head would make a body stop laughing in church.

[Longshot]

Yup...........it worked!

[Ben I. Voss]

Nate, don't underestimate the old time native-americans abilities.  They were amazingly great carvers of all materials including wood, bone, horn and antler, and even stone. They did work so precise, with primitive tools,that you would swear it was done by machine.