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This paper revisits and reassesses
two enigmatic archival photographs taken
in the 1890s showing Japanese katana, or samurai
swords, in situ with American Indians
in the northern Great Plains. Both have been
published, correctly presented as enticing unexplained
oddities in nineteenth-century Indian
possession. The katana seen hanging on a wall
of the home of Chief Red Cloud of the Oglala
Lakota (Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota),
which we believe was photographed in November
or early January of 1890 (fig. 1), was first
discussed in print by Bleed (1987). The second
photograph (fig. 2) shows a katana held by Dog
Child of the Blackfoot (Siksika) tribe, formerly a
scout for the North-West Mounted Police (later
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police), photographed
in c. 1890–1894 at Gleichen, Alberta,
and first discussed by Drew (1980).
We attempt here to provide context and likely
explanations for the presence of samurai swords
in these two only known nineteenth-century in
situ American Indian contexts. For that purpose,
we first briefly survey the much broader
diffusion and integration of
the (largely Euro-American)
sword—called “long knife”
in many North American
Indian languages—within
American Indian cultures.
We then look at possible
Japanese sources for these
swords and the resulting implications.
DIPLOMACY BY
THE SWORD:
“LONG KNIVES” AND
AMERICAN INDIANS
The broader diffusion of Euro
American swords among
North American Indians,
their utilitarian importance,
and the symbolic value Indians
themselves bestowed on
the sword, or “long knife,”
is a frequently overlooked
aspect of the history of Indian
White relations. Euro
American metal swords
played an important role in American Indian
culture and history, as well as in Indian-White
diplomacy, a fact amply documented by early
traders and travelers, missionaries, military personnel,
government officials, and, importantly,
by the Indians themselves. They were weapons
but also prized symbols of chieftainship, authority,
and status. They were tokens of friendship,
ceremonial and ritual objects, and sometimes
appeared as props in paintings and photographs.
While the two katana are the only known examples
of Japanese swords in nineteenth-century
Indian possession, other metal swords were
widely present in Indian Country in historic
times, where they were adopted and integrated
into new tribal contexts. Though often absent
from summaries of American Indian material
culture, swords have a rich historical and iconographic
presence in post-contact records.
Arthur Woodward’s (1928) seminal article
“The Long Knives” surveyed the widespread
use of the expressions “long knife,” or “big
knife,” among American Indians, to mean not
only “sword” but also the people of the sword;
that is, the terms came to
be applied first to Virginians
then to all non-Indian
Americans.1 Swords were
an important item in early
gift packages that included
flags, peace medals, military
uniforms, hats, pipe tomahawks,
“chief” canes, and
occasionally even inscribed
firearms, presented to
American Indian dignitaries
visiting the Great White
Father (the U.S. President)
in Washington. The sword’s
esthetic beauty, sharpness,
shape (the grip and pommel
at times were cast to
represent animals such as
eagles and panthers sacred
to the Indians, see fig. 6),
and the decorative motives
often engraved on the blade
all greatly appealed to their
Native recipients. Both the
givers and the receivers
FIG. 3 (below): Portrait
of Etowaucum (baptized
Nicholas). Named Etow Oh
Koam, King of the River
Nation, by John Verelst,
1710.
Oil on canvas. 91.5 x 64.5 cm.
From the series “Four Mohawk
Kings.”
Library and Archives of Canada,
Portrait Gallery of Canada, inv.
1977-35-1.
In 1710, three Mohawk and one
Mahican chiefs traveled to the court
of Queen Anne to find solutions for
incursion into their territories by
the French and their native allies.
Verelst, a Dutch portrait painter,
was commissioned to commemorate
them on this occasion. Verelst
painted them in a style that is
reserved for royalty, and all wear
gold-edged red cloaks. The Mahican
chief Etow Oh Koam holds a ballheaded
club and hanging from his
belt is a curved sword, probably
of Ottoman origin. At his feet is a
turtle, a reference to his clan.