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Description: | old printed label which reads "New Zealand" CULT Polynesian: Maori pre-1888 New Zealand Polynesia All highly born Maori males carried these staffs as insignias of rank. They were used for hand-to-hand combat and in ceremonial displays. One end is flattened to a narrow blade and the other is carved into a stylised double-faced Janus head with a long stuck-out tongue (arero), the traditional Maori gesture of defiance used before one's enemies. The decorated collar (awe) was considered to enhanced the staff's prestige and spiritual essence (mana) and was thought to aid the warrior by giving him the agility of the creature from which it was made, namely the Kaka bird and the Maori dog (Kuri). Maori weapons were highly prized as family heirlooms and battlefield trophies. They were considered to be sacred (tapu) objects and as such were kept out of sight when not in use. This object dates to the Te Huringa 1 period (1800-present) (Daniel Scott-Heaney, 2006) | License: | http://www.hmag.gla.ac.uk/spirit/rights/ | Publisher: | Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow | Rights holder: | Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow | Subjects: | CHIEF : CLUB : SPEAR : WEAPON : FIGHTING : WARRIOR : COMBAT : DSH : | Source: | Hunterian Museum | Creator: | Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow | Identifier: | http://www.huntsearch.gla.ac.uk/cgi-bin/... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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