Club
Back-Weighted Hand-Clubs, Wahaika
With a name meaning ‘fish-mouth’, the form of the wahaika is unique and distinctive. Backwards-curving hand-clubs were made elsewhere in Polynesia (notably, on Easter Island) but the Maori developed this style to a remarkable degree of refinement. Like the curved slashing swords of Asia, the curved wooden blade along the wahaika’s striking edge created a larger surface that the striking force was applied through during a single blow; wounds were therefore larger. The name is believed to refer to the distinctive notch in the middle of the striking edge, which was used (like the forks in spurred Fijian clubs) to parry an enemy’s club and deflect it, or even disarm him.
With a name meaning ‘fish-mouth’, the form of the wahaika is unique and distinctive. Backwards-curving hand-clubs were made elsewhere in Polynesia (notably, on Easter Island) but the Maori developed this style to a remarkable degree of refinement. Like the curved slashing swords of Asia, the curved wooden blade along the wahaika’s striking edge created a larger surface that the striking force was applied through during a single blow; wounds were therefore larger. The name is believed to refer to the distinctive notch in the middle of the striking edge, which was used (like the forks in spurred Fijian clubs) to parry an enemy’s club and deflect it, or even disarm him.
Object Summary
- Accession Loan No.
- E1220
- Category
- Ethnography
- Collection Class
- Arms and armour
- Collection Area Region
- Australia and New Zealand
- Material
- hard wood
- Common Name
- club
- Simple Name
- club
- Production Country
- New Zealand
- Production Year Low
- 1769
- Production Year High
- 1777
