Iroquois War Club

 

 

 

 

 

Iroquois Confederacy War Club, with carving of a snake on handle (c.1800).

Iroquois Confederacy War Club with Snake and Fish Carving
Artist: Unknown, Iroquois Confederacy.
Date: c. 1800
Created: Eastern North America, Iroquois Confederacy.
Medium: Carved hardwood
Dimensions: 38.5 cm. length

This ball-headed war club was created by an Indigenous Iroquois Confederacy artist/craftsperson from one piece of wood such as that formed by a ‘burl’, an irregular growth on a tree branch or root. The handle is embellished by a carving of a snake on one side and of a fish on the other, perhaps personal or clan symbols.  Such a war club was used for close combat. The Iroquois Confederacy and other First Nations were allies of the British and Canadian cause during the War of 1812 (1812-1814). The war club may have been collected by John Harris during the War of 1812 when he served with the British Navy in the Great Lakes, or it may have been collected by Amelia Ryerse’s father, Colonel Samuel Ryerse (1752-1812), who served in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) and who settled in Upper Canada in 1794.[15]

PREVIOUS
NEXT

We acknowledge that we are on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron. We honour and respect the history, languages and culture of the diverse Indigenous people who call this territory home.

We acknowledge all the treaties that are specific to this area: the Two Row Wampum Belt Treaty of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy/Silver Covenant Chain; the Beaver Hunting Grounds of the Haudenosaunee NANFAN Treaty of 1701; the McKee Treaty of 1790, the London Township Treaty of 1796, the Huron Tract Treaty of 1827, with the Anishinaabeg, and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum of the Anishnaabek and Haudenosaunee.

The three Indigenous Nations that are neighbours to London are the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation; Oneida Nation of the Thames; and the Munsee-Delaware Nation who all continue to live as sovereign Nations with individual and unique languages, cultures, and customs.