Native American weaponry explained

Native American weaponry was used by Native American warriors to hunt and to do battle with other Native American tribes and Europeans.

Weaponry in North America

Weaponry for Native American groups residing in North America can be grouped into five categories: striking weapons, cutting weapons, piercing weapons, defensive weapons, and symbolic weapons. The weaponry varied with proximity to European colonies, with tribes nearer those colonies likelier to have knives and tomahawks with metal components.[1]

Striking weapons

Native Americans used many variations of striking weapons. These weapons were mainly used for melee combat with other tribes. In some cases, these weapons were thrown for long-range attacks.

English soldier and explorer Jonathan Carver described another striking weapon, the name of which he did not give, that, he said, was unique to the inhabitants of the Great Plains:

Having great plenty of horses, they always attack their enemies on horseback, and encumber themselves with no other weapon, than a stone of a middling size, curiously wrought, which they fasten by a string, about a yard and half long, to their right arms, a little above the elbow. These stones they conveniently carry in their hands till they reach their enemies, and then swinging them with great dexterity, as they ride full speed, never fail of doing execution.[2]

Cutting weapons

Cutting weapons were used by the Native Americans for combat as well as hunting. Tribes in North America preferred shorter blades and did not use long-cutting weapons like the swords that the Europeans used at the time.

Piercing weapons

Piercing weapons consisted of both short and long-range weapons. They were used for hunting and combat.

Defensive weapons

Some Native American tribes carried shields into battle for extra protection. These shields were mostly made from leather stretched across a round wooden frame.

Symbolic weapons

Many of the weapons that the Native Americans used served a more symbolic purpose.

Weaponry in Mesoamerica and South America

Indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica and South America used many weapons similar to those in North America, including spears, bows and arrows, atlatl, clubs, daggers, and shields. However, several additional types of weapons were also used in combat.

Aztec Weaponry

Inca Weaponry

References

Notes and References

  1. [Jonathan Carver]
  2. [Jonathan Carver]
  3. Web site: Native American weapons: Metal Blades . www.warpaths2peacepipes.com.
  4. News: The Fearsome Close-Quarter Combat Weapon of the Aztecs. ThoughtCo. 9 January 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20180528134805/https://www.thoughtco.com/macuahuitl-sword-aztec-weapons-171566. 28 May 2018. dead. dmy-all.
  5. Book: Powell, Philip Wayne. Mexico's Miguel Caldera: the taming of America's first frontier, 1548-1597. 1977. University of Arizona Press. 0-8165-0569-1. Tucson. 3090055.
  6. Book: Bengoa, José . José Bengoa . Historia del pueblo mapuche: Siglos XIX y XX . 2000 . Seventh . . 956-282-232-X. 243–246.