Head Hunter Weapons

[Jim McDougall]

An interesting topic, and truly a formidable task Trenchwarfare! All the more so because discussion and research on this subject can easily lead to misperceptions and inadvertantly inflammatory comments on specific ethnic groups.
As was once well said by Alan Maisey, we must be cautious in examining cultural and traditional practices of certain ethnic and tribal groups, as we cannot guage such practices by our standards. I once read a book, I cannot recall the title now, but it was to the effect of headhunting in the Solomon Islands. The title itself was frankly bone chilling, but intriguing and as an always curious student of anthropology, I was compelled to go through it.

Naturally sensational accounts using the headhunter term abound in adventure narratives of the 20's and 30's, and I am pretty sure that our local sage on Oceanic and native tribes of various Pacific and other archipelagos, Vandoo, can present some great examples with his very discerning perspective revealing actual vs. sensational veneer.

Lets proceed with caution, and I look forward to a great discussion!!!!

All best regards,
Jim