Weapons

Mariners brought back many examples of weapons from this region, perhaps intrigued at the variety of deadly forms used in close combat. From Fiji, they collected throwing clubs, paddle, and gunstock shaped clubs. From Kiribati, swords and spears with edges lined with shark teeth, and from New Guinea, cassowary bird bone daggers and stone maces.

Image of an object with a central spike surrounded by three others all lashed together at the base. All spikes are lined with shark teeth.

Shark Tooth-Edged Spear

c. 1880
Kiribati, Gilbert Islands

This piece was collected by a Maine mariner and donated to the former Portland Society of Natural History. The PSNH regularly put out calls for mariners to collect ethnographic items for the museum.

Ex. Portland Society of Natural History
HM6475

  • Image of an object with a long, pointed dagger made of bone below a face made of a black material with shell, feather, and fiber decorations.
  • Image of an object with a long, pointed dagger made of bone below a face painted red and white with shell and feather decorations.

Payback Bone Daggers

c. 1982
Papua New Guinea

These daggers were made from cassowary bird bone with a clay head that represented the face of the person to be avenged. These examples were made specifically for the tourist trade.

Rose S. Zeiber Collection
HM6918, HM7108

Image of a club made with a long stick, polished but retaining its natural shape, with a stone carved into a ring of points, attached a few inches below one end.

Club with Stone Head

19th Century
Papua New Guinea

This club was collected by Richard Emerick and was not related to the items he acquired in the 1950’s. To complement collections gathered during his fieldwork, he often sought out examples from other areas and time periods.

Emerick Collection
HM6600

Image of a long club formed from a single branch, curved at one end with a small knob protruding.

Gunstock Club

c. 1850
Fiji

Collected by Captain Robert Owens of the USS St. Mary when the ship was assigned to the Pacific Squadron between 1848 and 1872.

Emerick Collection
HM6487

Image of a club made from a branch curved at one end. The curved end is shaped to a point surrounded by a raised ring studded with smaller points.

Totokia War Club

19th Century
Fiji

This particular form of war club was designed to bash a hole in an enemy’s skull.

HM868

Image of short club made of a single piece of wood. Handle has chip-carved patterns at the grip. Head is formed of large burl.

I-ula tavatava

Fiji

This throwing club is designed to be thrown from a distance and would be used to incapacitate birds, animals, and humans, which would them be finished off at close quarters. Made from the dense wood of the ironwood tree, they were extremely lethal weapons.

Martha J. Stevens Collection
HM2664