metal weapons and tools in the pacific

[ausjulius]

this has interested me for some time,
i am interested in the metalic weapons and tools, of the pacific, mostly the weapons,

so far i've seen very few metal weapons from this area,
has anyone any information or pictures,

ive read the hawaiians developed iron working very quickly and were after afew years after contact producing forged iron and steel products in a european style,, did they make weapons of their own style or did they purchase any of these they needed from traders.

is micronesia in the areas with spanish contact, they had regional styles of their own and used a european technique to forge iron tools.
as the chomorro knives are a good sxsample, seems in their costume and tools is a strong mexican influence.. and actualy little or no philipino influence,, although alot of the population seem to be decended from philipinos brought there over time..
i guess alot more were then decended from mexicans, and also spanish
and no doubt the native population would make up a large part of the population , so there is no doubt some of their native concepts intertwined in their metal working ,

but what other area aside from guam has any native inron weapons in the pacific,

ive seen in a book on tonga many years ago some images for a public event in the 1960s ,, there was shown some men of higher rank in trandional dress with traditional weapons and in one image a man caw brandishing a sword-like item , the handle being about 45cm long and the blade about 6o cm long the weapon ending in a tip curling like a fern leaf tip when it is young,, the handle was wrapped with cane bands and was pinned on,,

it did not look like it was made of a commercial trade item but localy made,

ive also seen some modern made weapons from west papua,, they were looking like long double edged swords with flaired blades and carved wooden handles and sheaths,,
they looked recent.. dont know where they were from but that they were west papuan , they were rather odd proably some single individual who had learned blacksmithing and had decided to make some weapons i guess.

ive also seen the odd crude made weapons such as ground down bits of iron and hinges used as knives or spears, but these are kust oppertunistic items from scavanged iron and are applied in the way the stone would normaly be used,,

anyone have any information on this area??

[Clubs & Arrows]

Hello Ausjulius,
The Samoans had the Nifo Oti which was a long rectangular blade with a small hook curling away from the top edge. You can find it in:
Early Photography - Tonga and Samoa 1855 - 1900 by Kurt During, and in the book Samoan Art and Artists by Sean Mallon. The Samoans fought with these during the civil wars during the mid to late 19th century.
Now, the same type of piece has the blade set on fire and is danced with at Polynesian themed events.

As far as Papuan blades, I'm afraid that I can't help.

Best regards,
Joe

[ausjulius]

Originally Posted by Clubs & Arrows

Hello Ausjulius,
The Samoans had the Nifo Oti which was a long rectangular blade with a small hook curling away from the top edge. You can find it in:
Early Photography - Tonga and Samoa 1855 - 1900 by Kurt During, and in the book Samoan Art and Artists by Sean Mallon. The Samoans fought with these during the civil wars during the mid to late 19th century.
Now, the same type of piece has the blade set on fire and is danced with at Polynesian themed events.

As far as Papuan blades, I'm afraid that I can't help.

Best regards,
Joe

hi thanks yes the tongan one i sa was very much like that only longer blade and handle and more narrow , the hook at the back was moe hooked,.. but id say the weapon was the same,, maybe the tongans used the same tool? or maybe the item was takento tonga??? as the missionaries in the 19th centuary traveled about about i guess that is how,, unless the image was from samoa and was miss quoted as a image of tonga..

thanks for the info,,
does anyone have an exsample of these weapons?

how well was the work in them? and were they well hardened,? what was the steel composition?

[Clubs & Arrows]

Here are some pics of a pair that I purchased a while back. These were collected by a Mormon Missionary that was in Samoa during 1929 and 1930. The blades are British steel. One is marked with a Boar's head over the words "Endure / Josh Beal & Sons / Best Cast Steel / Sheffield", and the other appears to be Birmingham / England, but I can't make out what's stamped above it.

The longer of the two is just under 39" overall in length, with 19 5/8" of the total being the blade. The second is 37 1/2" overall in length, with 20 1/4" of the total being the blade. The steel blades are 1/8" in thickness. The coconut fiber cord is pretty unraveled, but hanging on.

[Tim Simmons]

Wow this is What do you make of this beautiful piece, I am not sure any more?

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ighlight=razor

[ausjulius]

wow!!!, nice.. seems those were british made blades,,so i guess there was enougth demand for them to produce them i a quantity,, has anyone got any of the clubs these weapons were based on?

[ausjulius]

Originally Posted by Tim Simmons

Wow this is What do you make of this beautiful piece, I am not sure any more?

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ighlight=razor

yes the curl on that one looks much more like the tongan weapon i saw,, but that choppers handle and such look more to be african it i were to guess..

[elv]

I've done a bit of a study on photos that have been publicly available of Nifo'Oti (I've sighted eight early Nifo'Oti) and most of the early examples were manufactured by Joseph Beal & Sons in Sheffield. Some had no markings so they gave no clue to their origin. It is unclear exactly when they were exported to Samoa. Several of the Joseph Beal & Sons blades have different markings - indicating different shipments.

Below is a compilation I've made of the markings. I've included the logo of the websites where they were found. It would be interesting to hear from collectors that have a Nifo'Oti that I don't have a photo of yet.

While there is no doubt these Nifo'Oti (translated Tooth cutter and modelled on pre-european contact wooden Nifo'Oti) were used for warfare - they were primarily used as an agricultural and multi-purpose tool. Being a prized possession of the chiefs and higher class. This is also indicated by the regular display of Nifo'Oti rather than other weapons in early photographs.

Originally Posted by Clubs & Arrows

Here are some pics of a pair that I purchased a while back. These were collected by a Mormon Missionary that was in Samoa during 1929 and 1930. The blades are British steel. One is marked with a Boar's head over the words "Endure / Josh Beal & Sons / Best Cast Steel / Sheffield", and the other appears to be Birmingham / England, but I can't make out what's stamped above it.

The longer of the two is just under 39" overall in length, with 19 5/8" of the total being the blade. The second is 37 1/2" overall in length, with 20 1/4" of the total being the blade. The steel blades are 1/8" in thickness. The coconut fiber cord is pretty unraveled, but hanging on.