Originally Posted by
finallyME
I have never been to Florida, but I would bet there is bamboo there.
I have made several wooden knives. They were all toys. I have made them for my kids to play with, and made them for myself to play with when I was a lot younger. I also used to have a plastic "Rambo" knife with a matching grenade and red headband when I was 8.
In order to "cut" something, you have to use something that is harder than the material you are cutting. Bone is harder than wood, metal is harder than bone, stone is generally harder than metal. Of course, there are numerous types of metal with differing hardnesses, and the same is true for stone as well as wood. For a wooden knife, you would want to use hard wood, like oak. I am sure there is a native hardwood in Florida that others can help with.
Like Crash suggested, make one and tell us how it went. Then you will discover for yourself why "Indians" never had wooden knives.