This is a phenomenal Bear-Cult dag fighting knife of the Blackfoot Native American Indians of the 18th Century. This example shows a traditional shaped blade in the beaver tail or beaver back shape double edged which is secured to a wood bolster handguard with four copper stud pins on each side. The solid wood handle also has the beaver back or beaver tail design. The handle continues with a Bear bone jaw with teeth which is wrapped in red stroud old trade clothe being sinew sewn and secured presumably with hide glue. At the back of the knife near the end shows a tuft of bear fur / hide which is still attached. The end of the knife shows the two main front large canines / teeth turning toward the inside, a truly menacing pommel. The knife blade itself appears to have had a medium ridge which was worked of grinded out. Th blade has pitting and a dark coloring and is not marked but is a good blacksmith example. This example is nearly the same as the Bear-Cult Dag shown in Harold L. Peterson’s “American Knives” on page 127 figure 158. Peterson’s example shows the bear jaw with small tuft of fur at the back, being wrapped at the gripping area with beaver back wood two-piece bolsters having four pins and a bear back tail shaped blade. The bear knife was used by the members of the Bear Cult among the Assiniboine, Eastern Dakota, Blackfoot and Sarsi tribes. These knives were sacred and used during hand to hand combat in battle. Obtaining a Bear-Cult dag knife was difficult. The knife was transferred in a ritual ceremony, per Harold Peterson’s report, and as the ceremony was coming to a close the owner of the knife, after imitating the antics of a bear, would suddenly hurl the knife at the candidate. If he failed to catch the knife, he was not worthy of the knife, but if he caught it he was thrown naked upon a bed of thorns and beaten thoroughly with the flat of the blade while the ceremonial Bear-Cult paint was applied to his aching body (openly quoted from “American Knives”). Measures overall 15”L with a 8.25”L blade that is 2.5”W at its widest. The knife itself is about 3”W.