This hook dao is presently housed in the Indian Museum, Kolkata, and is a striking example of traditional weaponry and utility tools used by the Cachari tribe of Assam. Intended for both cultivation and defense, the dao demonstrates the tribe's skills in ironwork and woodcraft. This weapon, the dao, has an iron blade curved and elongated attached to a long curved wooden handle. The head and the tip of the blade are shaped artistically like a bird's head and beak-the ironwork is rubbed with earth for light texture, which is unlike anything seen in modern craft-making; these implements tell much about the deep relation that the tribe indulged with nature and animal symbolism, with the blade pressed into the handle, having a cane strap tightly plaited around the joint securing this weapon in strength durability.
Traditionally the dao was used for anything from clearing forest undergrowth, harvesting crops, or as a weapon in tribal confrontations. The ergonomic detailing of the dao was such that it greatly relieved the burden on the users whether during protracted labor or combat. It is with tools like this dao that the Cachari tribe made use of their geographical endowments and creatively expressed themselves, illuminating the life of the tribes of Northeast India.