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Tsimshian Society and Culture

Warfare

Instruments of War
Instruments of war included bows and arrows, spears, daggers, clubs, fist clubs, canoe breakers, and atlatls (boards that add propulsive force in throwing a spear).

A whale-bone club found at an ancient Tsimshian village site, near Prince Rupert. It has been dated at approximately 2,000 years old.
(GbTo-31-522)

Bows and Arrows

Yew-wood bow decorated with Raven-head design
Collected by W.E. Gordon, 1853; Fort Simpson
(VII-C-2088)

Bows used in war were made of yew wood and decorated with the owner's crests. Ceremonial versions of these bows were inset with abalone shell. War arrows were made of Saskatoon berry branches obtained from the interior. Quivers consisted of tubes of red cedar, often elaborately decorated.

Daggers

Steel war dagger with an eagle crest on the pommel
Collected by A. Mackenzie, 1884; Haida, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands
(VII-B-944)

Copper and steel daggers were obtained from Siberian fur traders for hundreds of years. Some were double-bladed like the knives of Siberian bear hunters. A steel dagger was as valuable as a slave and was the prized possession of a chief. The pommels of daggers provided a special field for artistic decoration.

Clubs

Stone war club in the "Skeena River" style, decorated with a fantastic monster combining fish and mammal elements
18th century
Collected by I.W. Powell, 1879; Metlakatla village
(XII-B-556)

Hand-to-hand fighting favoured the use of clubs. One ancient form that can be traced to Siberia and Shang China was made from caribou antlers armed with stone tips and decorated with geometric or zoomorphic designs. These clubs came to symbolize power among the Tsimshian, in particular, and miniature varieties were made as non-functional badges of achievement.

Tsimshian stone clubs were the most elaborately carved on the coast, a tradition that developed during a period of intense warfare in the first millennium B.C. The animal and human figures that decorate them are unlike any known crests produced later. Whalebone clubs, which could be very large, were sometimes carved with delicate designs and inlaid with shell.

Fist Clubs

Stone Fist Club
ca. A.D. 1
Lachane site, excavated 1973
(GbTo-33-4160)

The witnessed histories (adawk) mention that warriors concealed pointed stones in their fists for surprise attacks on their enemies.

Canoe Breakers

Canoe Breaker
Collected by C.F. Newcombe, 1895-1900, Haida, Queen Charlotte Islands
(XII-B-281)

According to the witnessed histories (adawk), large boulders were thrown at attacking canoes, then retrieved for reuse by means of a rope run through a hole in them. Straight-grained cedar canoes split easily if large boulders were thrown at them with great force. The enemy could also throw the boulders back, with destructive results.

Atlatls

Atlatl of yew wood
Collected from the Tlingit in the late 18th century
(VII-A-362)

An atlatl (an Aztec word) is a throwing board that served to extend the arm and add propulsive force to spears. Used throughout North and South America before the introduction of the bow, it was retained on the Northwest Coast until the introduction of the gun.