steel +omahawk 

 (fur trade ) 



dian Indians was what is tcnown as the "Hudson Bay 

 axe"; it is made as a fairly large or "full-axe," as a 

 lighter "half-axe," and as a large hatchet, or hand-axe. 

 The head of the blade is very narrow, the front of the 

 blade vertical, while the back widens toward the cut- 

 ting edge and the latter stands at a slightly acute angle 

 to the front of the blade. This style of axe seems to 

 follow the traditional form of the tomahawk and is 

 popular because it cuts well, yet is lighter to carry 

 than the other forms of axe. It is also called a "cedar 

 axe" in some localities. In modern times, Indian 

 hatchets are of the commercial variety, the "lathing" 

 form being preferred because it holds somewhat to 

 the old trade tomahawk in form of blade and weight. 

 The traditional steel tomahawk, incidentally was an 

 adaptation of one of the European forms of hatchet, 

 sold in the early days of the fur trade. 



S + eel canoe owls 



The "canoe awl" of the fur trade was a steel awl 

 with a blade triangular or square in cross-section, 

 and was sometimes made of an old triangular file of 

 small size. Its blade was locked into a hardwood 

 handle, and it was a modern version of the old bone 

 awl of the bark canoe builders, hence its name. 



The plane was also used by modern Indians, but 

 not in white man's fashion, in which the wood is 

 held in a vise and smoothed by sliding the tool for- 

 ward over the work. The Indian usually fixed the 

 plane upside down on a bench or timber and slid the 

 work over the sole, much as would be done with a 



Crooked kni 



^i:i:d 



power-driven joiner. However, the plane was not 

 very popular among any of the canoe-building 

 Indians. 



The boring tool most favored by the Indians was the 

 common steel gimlet; if a larger boring tool was de- 

 sired, an auger of the required diameter was bought 

 and fitted with a removable cross-handle rather than 

 a brace. 



One steel tool having much popularity among ca- 

 noe-building Indians was the pioneer's splitting tool 

 known as the "froe." This was a heavy steel blade, 

 fifteen to twenty inches long, about two inches wide, 

 and nearly a quarter inch thick along its back. One 

 end of the blade ended in a tight loop into which a 

 heavy hardwood handle, about a foot long, was set 

 at right angles to the back edge of the blade, so that, 

 when held in the hand, the blade was cutting edge 

 down, with the handle upright. The froe was driven 

 into the end of a balk of timber to be split by blows 



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