Weapon; Club

A taiaha (long club/fighting staff) with one end (the head) carved in the shape of a tongue with a human face on either side of the shaft below it, the other end is a smooth blade. A few tufts of dog hair and dog-skin strips are fastened to the shaft with fibres and red wool at the neck. The main design on the tongue is double spirals, formed by haehae (parallel grooves) and ridges with pakati (dog's-tooth notches). Two eyes are shell-inlaid.