Arrowheads were made from various kinds of stone, but, flint was considered the best. Not only because it was so hard, but also because the “grain” in flint is easier to chip than most other hard rocks. The favorite tool for chipping arrowheads into shape was the deer antler. A piece of rock was first broken into smaller pieces by using a hammer stone, then the most likely pieces shaped into arrowheads by chipping away with a smaller hammer stone and with deer antlers.

Spear point were made similar to arrowheads, only larger in size and somewhat different in shape. Some spears were made of hard wood and the wooden point sharpened and hardened in a fire.

Stone weapons, tomahawks and battle hammers were made from rocks of the right shape by sharpening one edge and grinding a groove around the stone using other harder stones. The groove was made so that the stone could be bound to a handle with rawhide. Other hammers and axe-type weapons also were used – sometimes a wood “burl” or knot in a root or branch with a convenient handle made a good battle axe.

Cherokees also used blowguns, generally for small game, but occasionally for warfare. Blowguns were from three to eight or nine feet long, with darts made of hard woods with the “fluff” or the rear end of the dart made from thistledown to center the dart in the blowgun. This would form a seal so that wind pressure (from blowing) behind the dart would send it through the barrel at a great speed. These were very accurate at short distances. In war time, if darts were used, they were generally poisoned, sometimes by getting a poisonous snake into a piece of spoiled meat and dipping the darts into to the poisoned meat. Certain plant juices were also used for poisons.

Info provided by the Cherokee Nation Cultural Resource Center. For information regarding culture and language, please contact:

cultural@cherokee.org