Before the widespread availability of metal edged weapons and firearms, ball-headed clubs, or as they were known in the period, ‘tomahawks’ or ‘clubhammers,’ were highly effective weapons. They also served as utilitarian implements, status symbols and ceremonial devices.

The artistic achievement of this club is hard to overstate. The immediate visceral response to the club is one of extraordinary power. By extapolation, it is easy to imagine the power it conferred on its owner.

The face carved on the ball is in full relief and may be representative of the original owner's ancestor or as a portrait memorializing a specific warrior. Based on it's size, the club was probably part of a medicine bundle and served either a ceremonial or ritualistic purpose.

From the side view of this club, one is able to clearly see a tab carved under the figures chin and on top of his head. This top tab morphs into a series of bumps traveling down the back of the club. It is likely that these elements represent a Manitou called Mishipizheu, or the "Underwater Panther".

The Manitou Mishipizheu was regarded as the most powerful being of the under- world and central to the Woodlands mythology of the Great Lakes and Northeastern regions. It was both feared and revered as a spirit of the large waters where it dwelt and was regarded as the demi-god of troubled and rough waters. It took the form of a snake- like feline with sharp teeth, horns, “power lines” and a spiked tail.

The tabs are its mouth and the bumps on its back are features identified on early pictographs on Agawa Rock, Ontario, Canada and recorded on a Woodlands burl bowl and ladle (see Powers, Good Wood, vol. I, The Evolution of the Water Manitou as Seen Through Its Presence in Woodlands Bowls & Ladles, 2008).

Collected: Black River Falls, Wisconsin

Note to Michaan...Red paint? The 1st club shows evidence of red face, black shaft, handle....if so will work in

Edited 1-3-12/cd, 1-12-13