Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Bill M · 28th November 2006, 12:30 PM

Thanks for the posts VANDOO and Dajak.

My point in posting this jacket originally was to say that weapons come in all different arenas. Sure a textile - shirt / war jacket would not be very effiective at stopping a club, bullet, arrow, blowgun, sword or spear.

But maybe that was not what it was about -- originally.

And I am sure that the Dayak did not go to the trouble to carefully weave certain patterns to make themselves look pretty on social occasions. They were very serious about these jackets offering some kind of protection when they went on raids and hunting expiditions.

It would have been a very bad thing to go head hunting and wind up with your head in someone else's longhouse, wrapped in one of their pua!

So some warrior's woman had a dream, wove a pattern and made her man this jacket over a hundred years ago. Maybe he went hunting and came back safely. Maybe they thought his success was related to the jacket. Maybe they thought it made him invisible to his enemies, both physical and also spritual.

I feel strongly that we miss a lot of the importance and richness of these cultures by NOT studying other aspects of the cultures besides sharp pointy metal --- even though I find the traditional weapons of steel to be fascinating.

Certainly we have different beliefs. I would not put a lot of faith in a jacket like this to protect me from someone hunting me with a sharp pointy weapon.

But they did.

And I suggest that if you or I were out in the jungles of Borneo, in the dark, with growly creatures around, and we did not have access to Kevlar, a little hand-woven jacket like this might make us feel a little better.

I am sure that it made the original owner feel better a hundred years ago and maybe it did more than just make him feel better........

28th November 2006, 12:30 PM	#11
Bill M Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: USA Georgia Posts: 1,599	Thanks for the posts VANDOO and Dajak. My point in posting this jacket originally was to say that weapons come in all different arenas. Sure a textile - shirt / war jacket would not be very effiective at stopping a club, bullet, arrow, blowgun, sword or spear. But maybe that was not what it was about -- originally. And I am sure that the Dayak did not go to the trouble to carefully weave certain patterns to make themselves look pretty on social occasions. They were very serious about these jackets offering some kind of protection when they went on raids and hunting expiditions. It would have been a very bad thing to go head hunting and wind up with your head in someone else's longhouse, wrapped in one of their pua! So some warrior's woman had a dream, wove a pattern and made her man this jacket over a hundred years ago. Maybe he went hunting and came back safely. Maybe they thought his success was related to the jacket. Maybe they thought it made him invisible to his enemies, both physical and also spritual. I feel strongly that we miss a lot of the importance and richness of these cultures by NOT studying other aspects of the cultures besides sharp pointy metal --- even though I find the traditional weapons of steel to be fascinating. Certainly we have different beliefs. I would not put a lot of faith in a jacket like this to protect me from someone hunting me with a sharp pointy weapon. But they did. And I suggest that if you or I were out in the jungles of Borneo, in the dark, with growly creatures around, and we did not have access to Kevlar, a little hand-woven jacket like this might make us feel a little better. I am sure that it made the original owner feel better a hundred years ago and maybe it did more than just make him feel better........