Native American Art, Session I

hand-forged steel; spear-shaped blade with upward curled tines has been ornamented with rocker-engraved designs of a star on one side and a “bleeding heart” on the opposite; inked on the haft of the tomahawk: “Chief Hole in the Day / Chippewa Chief / Braecklein Collection / 3850 E. 60th Terrace”

length 21-3/4 inches; length of blade 10 inches x width 2-1/2 inches

Chief Hole in the Day, the Younger (ca. 1825–1868) was a complicated individual. Self-proclaimed as the “first chief” of all Minnesota Ojibwe, he worked with the US government in various treaty and land negotiations, which placed his family in favorable positions and resulted in resentment among the Bands. 

During the 1862 Dakota War, also known as the Sioux Uprising, Hole in the Day sent a rallying cry to the Ojibwe people to join the Dakota in their fight against the White encroachment of Sioux lands. Fears of an alliance between the Ojibwe and Dakota caused the government to reissue payments of reneged but bespoke agreements, resulting in Hole in the Day again siding with the Government and once more sparking frustration among the Ojibwe Bands. 

He continued with his diplomatic visits to Washington and in 1867, White Earth reservation was established, creating the largest reservation in Minnesota. In the negotiations, it was added that before anyone moves, the Government must build housing for all families. Hole in the Day also requested that traders of mixed-blood be excluded from living on White Earth as they often took advantage of the people.

The traders, not happy about this decision, plotted Hole in the Day's assassination. On June 27th, 1868, while Hole in the Day was en route to Washington D.C., a group from the Leech Lake Ojibwe Band, hired by White and mixed-blood traders, attacked and killed him.

John George Braecklein (1865-1958), whose hand inked the collection history on this tomahawk, was an avid collector and student of historic and prehistoric Native American material culture. In his professional life, he had a successful career as an architect and was responsible for designing Kansas City's first skyscraper, the tallest building in the city in 1897. In 1890, he left for Chicago and assisted with the design of several of the World’s Fair buildings, the Chicago Athletic Club, and the Newberry Library.