Original 19th Century Native American Plains Indian (Likey Sioux) War Club – Featured in Book At Arm’s Length Page 64 Original Items

Original Item: One-of-a-kind. Purchased directly from David F. Machnicki, the author of At Arm’s Length Trench Clubs and Knives (Vol. 1), where this very club is featured on page 64! Please note that the attached page image from the book is copyrighted material and the use of the page is done by permission of the author. A printed copy of the page will accompany the purchase of this club.

This example for a Native American Indian club has a length 0f 728 mm and a mass of 407 grams. Its bi-point stone head is composed of calcite (CaCO3) that exhibits an overall gay coloration. Most stones selected from the banks of a stream for use as a club’s head range in composition from a hard quartzite to a soft Steatite (soapstone). Chipping, pecking, grinding and polishing the stone created its desired double-pointed shape. The haft for this example was made from a flexible piece of wood. The bottom end of its handle shows evidence of damage and therefore, one may conclude that this club was at one time longer than it appears today.

Current references indicate that it was not uncommon for broken war clubs to be re-used for ceremonial purposes Wrapping the stone head and its wood haft in wet rawhide followed by sewing a seam using sinew and drying it in the a seam using sinew and drying it in the sun, assembled the club. The rawhide on this example has weathered over time and now appears khaki in color with yellow colored sinew. The act of attaching a shaped, massive stone head to the top of a flexible wooden haft created a lethal weapon.

Current references indicated the majority of early stone clubs, which were designed for warfare while on horseback required a longer handle, extending the warrior’s reach.

Note: Analytical tests were conducted by Julio Enrique Levy, Ingeniero Geolog, which confirmed the composition for the stones used to make the war club as recrystallized limestone and marble (i.e. calcite) originating from the Permian or Pennsylvanian formations.

Total length: 728 mm
Head dimensions: 53 x 107 x 61 mm
Grip diameter: 13 mm
Pommel diameter: 15 mm
Mass: 407 grams