Length: 138.500 cm
Width: 18.000 cm

AOA Oc.1920,0317.1

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Power and Taboo: sacred objects from the Pacific

'u'u club

Clubs like this one were known as 'u'u and were used by warriors from the Marquesas Islands.

This particular example is very like that held by Mouina, the nineteenth century Marquesan warrior whose image was captured in a portrait by Captain David Porter of the US Navy ship Essex.

It is predominantly made out of ironwood, a very tough and heavy wood known as toa, which is also the word for warrior. It has faces carved into either side of it at the top, which were thought to provide its owner with extra protection. It has a handle bound with coir and human hair.

Many examples of this kind of club were collected in the first half of the nineteenth century and around 200 are thought to have survived.