The Real Reason We Say 'Bury The Hatchet'

There is another record of an instance of burying the hatchet, this time written by Samuel Sewall, who served as a judge during the Salem witch trials. The writing was dated in 1680 and says, "I wrote to you in a letter of the mischief the Mohawks did; which occasioned Major Pynchon's going to Albany where meeting with the Sachem, they came to an agreement and buried two axes in the ground, one for English and another for themselves." He further wrote that the literal burying of the hatchet was more binding than any peace contract between the two parties, as the hatchet was their main weapon (via Shelby County Today).

Throughout the years, the phrase "bury the hatchet" was used not just by tribes, but by countries as well. In the late 1700s, a 1794 peace treaty between the U.K. and the U.S. happened, and with it, Lord Grenville received a letter from statesman John Jay, which said, "To use an Indian expression, may the hatchet be henceforth buried for ever, and with it all the animosities, which sharpened, and which threatened to redden it."

Today, although the meaning of burying the hatchet is still the same as it once was, the act of literally burying a hatchet is no longer done.