Traditional hardwood clubs used by the Kanak tribes of New Caledonia
A Kanak war club is a traditional weapon (mace) of the Kanak tribes of New Caledonia.
Uses.
Usually cut from a hardwood type of iron wood, gaiac or kohu they were used for war. Like all the Pacific clubs, their forms were of a very wide variety and specific to each country and each purpose. They were found in phallic form, but also in the form of a fungus or a bird’s beak. Their striking head consisted of a root knot. These weapons were originally decorated with plants, human hair, or cloths, and were wielded with one or two hands.
Oceanian art specialist Roger Boulay makes a distinction between a mace, that is "an object whose percussion point is in the axis of the handle" and a club, that is "an object whose percussion point is shifted in relation to this axis".
The Kanak called the "bird beak" club a "turtle beak".
References.
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