﻿42 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  The 
  Algonquins 
  used 
  shields 
  of 
  a 
  rectangular 
  form, 
  and 
  a 
  Dutch 
  

   writer 
  of 
  1671 
  says 
  that 
  these 
  covered 
  the 
  body 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  shoulders. 
  

   In 
  fighting 
  these 
  could 
  be 
  set 
  on 
  the 
  ground, 
  leaving 
  both 
  arms 
  free. 
  

   A 
  Jesuit 
  father, 
  writing 
  of 
  a 
  Canadian 
  chief 
  in 
  1633, 
  said 
  that 
  he 
  

   * 
  bore 
  with 
  him 
  a 
  very 
  large 
  buckler, 
  very 
  long 
  and 
  very 
  wide 
  ; 
  it 
  

   covered 
  all 
  my 
  body 
  easily, 
  and 
  went 
  from 
  my 
  feet 
  up 
  to 
  my 
  chest. 
  

   They 
  raise 
  it 
  and 
  cover 
  themselves 
  entirely 
  with 
  it. 
  It 
  was 
  made 
  of 
  

   a 
  single 
  piece 
  of 
  very 
  light 
  cedar. 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  know 
  how 
  they 
  can 
  

   smooth 
  so 
  large 
  and 
  wide 
  a 
  board 
  with 
  their 
  knives. 
  It 
  was 
  a 
  little 
  

   bent 
  or 
  curved 
  in 
  order 
  the 
  better 
  to 
  cover 
  the 
  body; 
  and 
  in 
  order 
  

   that 
  the 
  strokes 
  of 
  arrows, 
  or 
  of 
  blows 
  coming 
  to 
  split 
  it, 
  should 
  not 
  

   carry 
  away 
  the 
  piece, 
  he 
  had 
  sewed 
  it 
  above 
  and 
  below 
  with 
  a 
  cord 
  of 
  

   skin. 
  They 
  do 
  not 
  carry 
  these 
  shields 
  on 
  the 
  arm; 
  they 
  pass 
  the 
  cord 
  

   which 
  sustains 
  them 
  over 
  the 
  right 
  shoulder, 
  protecting 
  the 
  left 
  side; 
  

   and 
  when 
  they 
  have 
  aimed 
  their 
  blow 
  they 
  have 
  only 
  to 
  draw 
  back 
  

   the 
  right 
  side 
  to 
  cover 
  themselves.' 
  

  

  The 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  war 
  club 
  is 
  well 
  known, 
  and 
  this 
  implement, 
  with 
  or 
  

   without 
  a 
  stone 
  axe 
  or 
  antler 
  inserted, 
  was 
  the 
  original 
  tomahawk. 
  

   The 
  French 
  writers 
  often 
  speak 
  of 
  the 
  swords 
  of 
  the 
  Iroquois 
  and 
  

   others, 
  but 
  without 
  any 
  precise 
  description. 
  They 
  were 
  sometimes 
  

   fastened 
  to 
  poles 
  by 
  the 
  Algonquins 
  and 
  used 
  as 
  spears. 
  Stones 
  or 
  

   shells 
  were 
  used 
  as 
  knives, 
  but 
  the 
  white 
  man's 
  knife 
  soon 
  supplanted 
  

   these; 
  and 
  this 
  was 
  the 
  lot 
  of 
  the 
  stone 
  axe, 
  which 
  was 
  not 
  grooved 
  

   among 
  the 
  Iroquois, 
  nor 
  was 
  it 
  usually 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  or 
  Canada. 
  

   First, 
  the 
  French 
  trade 
  axe, 
  and 
  then 
  the 
  smaller 
  steel 
  tomahawk, 
  

   became 
  favorites, 
  while 
  guns 
  took 
  the 
  place 
  of 
  bows 
  and 
  arrows. 
  

  

  Although 
  spear-heads 
  present 
  a 
  few 
  varieties 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  not 
  

   common 
  here 
  in 
  arrows, 
  so 
  many 
  are 
  essentially 
  the 
  same, 
  except 
  in 
  

   size, 
  that 
  they 
  will 
  require 
  fewer 
  illustrations. 
  They 
  are 
  quite 
  often 
  of 
  

   fine 
  or 
  showy 
  materials, 
  and 
  are 
  as 
  variable 
  in 
  coarseness 
  or 
  delicacy 
  

   of 
  work 
  as 
  in 
  other 
  ways. 
  

  

  Leaf 
  shaped 
  spear-heads 
  are 
  often 
  quite 
  large. 
  One 
  of 
  comnion 
  

   flint, 
  from 
  Baldwinsville, 
  has 
  lost 
  half 
  an 
  inch 
  from 
  its 
  tip, 
  and 
  is 
  still 
  

   nine 
  inches 
  long, 
  with 
  an 
  extreme 
  width 
  of 
  two 
  and 
  three 
  quarters 
  

   inches. 
  The 
  base 
  is 
  neatly 
  rounded, 
  and 
  the 
  outline 
  that 
  which 
  

   botanists 
  term 
  lanceolate. 
  This 
  form 
  is 
  common 
  and 
  when 
  thin 
  may 
  

  

  