Double Pointed War Knife
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1870
label: Collection Date
content: 1867 to 1869
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. Alexander H. Hoff
label: Donor Name
content: Army Medical Museum
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "LOAN: CROSSROADS SEP 22 1988. ILLUS.: CROSSROADS OF CONTINENTS CATALOGUE; FIG. 311, P.232. LOAN RETURNED: JAN 21 1993." The Crossroads photo caption notes "The double-bladed ... dagger could be thrust both up and down without regripping, making it especially deadly in close combat." FROM 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL WITH CARD: "DOUBLE-BLADED DAGGER AND SHEATHS.--BLADES MADE OF STEEL. THE HANDLE, WHICH IS MOUNTED WITH COPPER AND WRAPPED IN LEATHER, IS SET BETWEEN THE TWO BLADES. THE BLADE ABOVE THE HANDLE IS MUCH SHORTER THAN THE ONE BELOW. ATTACHED TO THE HANDLE IS A LEATHER STRIP WITH A HOLE CUT NEAR THE END TO LET IN THE MIDDLE FINGER. THE STRIP IS THEN TWISTED ABOUT THE WRIST TO SECURE THE WEAPON FIRMLY IN THE HAND SO THAT THE WARRIOR NEVER PARTS WITH HIS WEAPON UNTIL DEATH. SHEATHS FOR BOTH BLADES MADE OF LEATHER. LENGTH OF UPPER BLADE, 4 3/4 INCHES; LENGTH OF LOWER BLADE, 12 3/4 INCHES. INDIANS OF ALASKA. 9,288. COLLECTED BY DR. A. H. HOFF, U. S. A." From 19th or early 20th century exhibit label with card; label is for daggers Catalogue Nos. 9288, 9936, 10314, 20768, 45993, 67839, 67979, and 67980: "Two-Bladed Daggers. Made of iron, one blade long and tapering, the other short. The upper or outer side of each blade is divided into three flat surfaces, and in highly finished examples the middle surface is raised slightly. Grip between the blades narrowed and wrapped with cloth or leather. In number 9288 the grip and a short space beyond are overlaid with sheet copper. ..."
label: Notes
content: Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on dagger and sheath http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=506 , retrieved 1-5-2012: Dagger, Tlingit Tlingit warriors possessed iron-bladed knives long before Western contact, crafted from metal found on Asian ships that drifted across the Pacific. Sophisticated indigenous iron-working techniques produced honed and tempered blades, often with ground-on flutes. The double-ended war dagger was worn around the neck in a leather sheath and used in hand-to-hand combat. George Ramos said that a warrior tied his knife to his wrist before going into battle so that it would not be lost.
label: Notes
content: This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027. War knife and sheath (2 parts) both on loan. See E9288-0 for sheath.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 29 Aug 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Tlingit
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 001767
label: USNM Number
content: E9288-1
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Knife
physicalDescription: label: Length - Upper Blade
content: 12.07 cm
label: Length - Lower Blade
content: 32.38 cm
label: Length - Object
content: 60.7 cm