A Peace Pipe Tomahawk given by George Washington to Chief Cornplanter was returned to the Seneca Nation yesterday for the first time in over 170 years.
The tomahawk was acquired by the New York State Museum some time after Chief Cornplanter’s death in 1836, and was stolen from the museum in 1947.
An anonymous collector contacted the State Museum about the tomahawk last year, and it was finally returned to the Seneca in a special ceremony yesterday. It will be on display in the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum.