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Ethnology of Manihiki and Rakahanga

Clubs

Clubs

Clubs (korare) were of two forms, long and short. The long club was made of coconut wood. It was described as being tukerua (two tuke) long. A tuke is the distance from the outstretched hand to the opposite shoulder. A long slender korare seen at Rakahanga is shown in figure 108, b. A club like a long billet with the head end rounded and slightly expanded (pl. 10, B) is richly inlaid with pearl-shell discs throughout its length.

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The short korare was made of tou wood and was less than one tuke long. It had an expanded thick blade with sharp edges. One form described to me was said to have a curved distal end something like a bill hook, as in figure 109, a. The korare made for me has no curve as in figure 109, b and plate 10, A. A much shorter club fully inlaid (fig. 109, c) was recorded by Edge-Partington (6, vol, 2, p. 21, fig. 1). The short korare was sometimes carried slung to the wrist for use at close quarters.

Figure 109. Weapons, short clubs (korare). a, Rakahangan club (drawn by F. Murray): 1, expanded blade, sharpened lateral edges do not meet in mesial edge; 2, curved end; 3, rounded shaft or handle; 4, proximal knob. b, Rakahangan club (C. 3019) of tou wood, 33.5 inches long: 2, blade with square end, ornamented with pearl-shell discs and triangles, incised along mesial edge with smaller circles, triangles, and nicks, 19.5 inches long, 4.2 inches wide at shaft junction and 4.9 inches wide at distal end, 1.9 inches thick between mesial edges, side edges blunt, abrupt shoulder at shaft junction; 3, shaft, 14 inches long, diameter is 1.5 inches; 4, proximal knob, 1.7 inches thick, transverse diameter is 2.4 inches; 5, end in section, with pearl-shell discs. c, short club (after Edge-Partington), 19 inches long: 1, blade narrower in middle and covered by four rows of pearl-shell discs; 3, short handle without knob.

Figure 109. Weapons, short clubs (korare). a, Rakahangan club (drawn by F. Murray): 1, expanded blade, sharpened lateral edges do not meet in mesial edge; 2, curved end; 3, rounded shaft or handle; 4, proximal knob. b, Rakahangan club (C. 3019) of tou wood, 33.5 inches long: 2, blade with square end, ornamented with pearl-shell discs and triangles, incised along mesial edge with smaller circles, triangles, and nicks, 19.5 inches long, 4.2 inches wide at shaft junction and 4.9 inches wide at distal end, 1.9 inches thick between mesial edges, side edges blunt, abrupt shoulder at shaft junction; 3, shaft, 14 inches long, diameter is 1.5 inches; 4, proximal knob, 1.7 inches thick, transverse diameter is 2.4 inches; 5, end in section, with pearl-shell discs. c, short club (after Edge-Partington), 19 inches long: 1, blade narrower in middle and covered by four rows of pearl-shell discs; 3, short handle without knob.