The name tomahawk is a combination of tribal and English words. Algonquin and Lenape peoples called their lightweight stone axes "tamahak" or “tamahakan". European Americans pronounced these words as "tomahawk." They liked the size and weight of the original tool, but made their own adaptation by replacing the stone heads with iron heads having steel blades. Tribes who had never seen a handled tool with a metal head called it a tomahawk, adopting the indigenous term to the iron headed tool.
