The Bonaventure Hatchet
• 45.5 cm long x 18 cm wide
Made in France in 1695, this hatchet is one of only 250. Linguist Frank Siebert inherited it in 1935 from Louis Lolar, a Penobscot who was one of his Penobscot language consultants. Of its importance, Siebert (1988:4) concluded, "The hatchet is a genuine relic of seventeenth century warfare in northeastern North America and perhaps the only one for which a detailed history can be sketched."
Louis Lolar was a direct descendant of the famous Penobscot war-chief, Loron, who lived during the era of intense French and English warfare for control of territories in the new world. French naval officer Simon-Pierre Denys de Bonaventure designed the hatchet and had about 250 of them cast in France in 1695. He brought them to New France and gave 200 to Penobscot fighters before the assault on Fort William Henry. This English stronghold was located at present-day Pemaquid. The French, together with their Wabanaki allies, sought to break the English control of the lower Maine coast and stop raids on Wabanaki villages and French trading posts. The fort was attacked and destroyed in August 1696.
Along with the hatchets, the French offered gifts as incentives to their Wabanaki allies. The Penobscots received guns, gunpowder, bullets and shot, tobacco, shirts, cloth and white feathers (the latter to identify them as French allies during the assault on the fort).
This hatchet is one of only 250 made in France and designed by naval officer Simon-Pierre Denys de Bonaventure. Bonaventure gave 200 of the hatchets to Penobscot fighters before the attack on English stronghold Fort William Henry.