BillyBob over at Hellonearth has been doing a series of posts on the tomahawk, something I must admit I have thought very little about until now.  His posts have changed that, and I have had a bit of fun looking into the history, and oddly enough the present of this venerable tool.

Think the tomahawk is outdated, a relic of the Indian wars?  Think again.  They are on the battle fields of today, and it appears our troops consider them to be a very useful tool.

This soldier brandishes a RMJ Tactical model tomahawk, which is a semi custom model that is pricey for civilians and probably rarely seen outside the military.

Here is a modern and less expensive SOG version, available off of Amazon for something like 27 dollars.  Hard to beat that price.

Below are a couple of Native Americans, more properly called Indians, showing off one of their favorite personal weapons.

Below is an unidentified Omaha with a tomahawk that looks very much like the modern version above.

Below is the Omaha man Standing Bear, with his very handsome and symmetrical tomahawk.

Even these Potowatami men wouldn't think of have their picture taken without their trusty tomahawks

So what is the role of the tomahawk today?  I like BillyBob's idea of carrying one in your truck.  At the very least it is an axe that you can use to chop wood, knock a hole in something, or what ever else.  At worst, it could be something to use as a defensive weapon, which our friends the Indians above could surely support.

Tomahawks: endorsed by both wild Indians and Seal Team 6!!

Research continues ....