RARE – Native Indian Stone War Club, recovered in upstate New York

This is one of those items you very seldom come across; it is a carved stone shaped to be used as a war club. It measures 6 ¾” x 4 ¼” x 2 ¼” and weighs 2-pounds, 7-ounces. It is said that this stone came from the Mohawk Valley area.

The main Indian tribes in upstate New York in the 1700s were the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) nations, specifically the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora, along with the Mahican and Lenape peoples. There is a near identical example of this one at the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum (see pictures).

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.

Stone clubs, or casse-tête, were made from a stone attached to a wooden handle. There were also variations of stone clubs where tribes would entirely carve the club out of a solid piece of stone. There are indications that most of these solid stone clubs were used for ceremonial purposes, instead of actual battle.