Bury The Hatchet – Definition Of This Idiomatic Expression
BURY THE HATCHET – In this topic, we are going to know and learn the meaning of the idiomatic expression “bury the hatchet”.
Definition
The phrase is an American English idiom meaning “to make peace, as well as an allusion to the figurative or literal practice of putting away weapons at the ceasefire of hostilities among Native Americans in the East United States.
Modern-wise, it means to end a quarrel or conflict and become friendly or settle their differences peacefully.
Origin
It originated as an American Indian tradition, according to Scttx. During that time, chieftains of tribes would bury these things when they came to a peace agreement.
This term was first recorded from the 17th century in English. Its practice, however, was way much earlier. A writing of a 1644 document states as the following:
“Proclaim that they wish to unite all the nations of the earth and to hurl the hatchet so far into the depths of the earth that it shall never again be seen in the future.”
As mentioned, the first mention of said practice is an actual hatchet-burying ceremony. According to tradition, the the Iroquois leaders Deganawidah and Hiawatha convinced the Five Nations to cease the fight and form a Confederacy, before Columbus arrived to the land. In the said practice the Iroquois buried their weapons under the roots of a large white pine tree.
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