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 Most
of the early versions were made from stone and tied to a handle with
an animal sinew or by passing a double-pointed chipped stone through
a hole in a handle. It wasn’t until the Europeans came to America
that the tomahawk heads were made of iron and used for trading.
Sunday’s Tomahawk throw at the National Railsplitting Festival in
Lincoln was an eye-opening experience of just how heavy, difficult,
and entertaining this sport can be. Bob Rankin was the facilitator
of this event and was very knowledgeable about the process and the
participants. He explained that the concept was to throw a tomahawk
at the thrower's choice of one of three targets. Two of the targets
were round blocks of sliced tree trunks approximately 5-6” thick,
attached to a wooden tripod with a playing card stapled somewhere on
that front flat piece, which is a more traditional, common target
that the National Rifle Association uses. The third choice was a
taller, larger square flat-faced target that is typically used at
indoor axe throwing events and restaurants and what the World Axe
Throwing League uses.
The object of this sport is to hit the card with the
tomahawk. The scoring is calculated by how you hit the card. The
participant will receive one point if the tomahawk sticks to the
target, three points if you nic the card, and five points if you
completely cut the card in two. If they wish, each participant
receives two practice throws that do not count towards the overall
points. They get five throws that will be counted and combined into
the final score, with the winner being the one with the most total
points. The participants are allowed to bring their own tomahawks,
but Rankin had several to choose from if someone wanted to try out
this sport on a whim.
There were three groups of participants. The junior division
included boys and girls aged 10 to 15. This group had nine
participants. The next group was for the women and had four
participants. The last was the men’s group which had 11
participants. The top three scores received certificates and a
homemade wooden spoon from the ‘Spoon Man’ vendor set up across the
lawn at the Postville Courthouse.
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Winners of the Junior Division
Winners of the Woman’s Division
Winners of the Men’s Division
All participants
[JA Hodgdon] |
