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Crooked knife

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The crooked knife sometimes referred to as a "curved knife", "carving knife," or "mocotaugan," from the Cree term "môhkotâkan," is a common Eastern Woodlands Native American woodworking knife. The crooked in "crooked knife" refers to the unusual shape of the knife, namely a blade that is set at an oblique angle to the handle. The blade can be straight or curved, long or short. Many blades were fashioned from re-worked file blades, reused hardened steel. and other sources. The Hudson Bay Company started to import pre-made steel Crooked Knife blades from Sheffield England, shipped without handles, specifically for trade with Native Americans. The shape of the blade, whether curved or straight, is a function of the carving purpose of the user: straight for whittling wood, making splints for baskets and incising, curved for hollowing out bowls and masks and ladles, as well as myriad other usages.