AWA: Academic Writing at Auckland

Iconic George Lucas movie Star Wars has a connection to the Pacific very few people are aware of. A war club indigenous to Fiji called the totokia inspired the design of the gaffi stick used by the Tusken Raiders [1]. The inspiration for the subject of this essay.

Fiji is an archipelago made up of over three hundred islands, with two main islands called Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. Its vegetation is a cross-section of tropical rainforests to tall hardwood trees. Fiji is also considered to be a mixture of Melanesian and Polynesian cultures, as evident in its traditional art[2]. Of particular focus is the Art of Warfare in Fijian Culture, by discussing the totokia displayed in the Auckland War Memorial Museum, in terms of its cultural significance, physical appearance and how it has been exhibited.

In order to understand the existence of the totokia (beak battle hammer) and its importance in traditional Fijian society, one must put this into context by studying the culture from which it originated. Universal across traditional Polynesia was a very hierarchical way of life. And Fijian society was no exception; it was highly stratified with the Chief holding paramount power over the common people and in charge of their own chiefdom. However it is acknowledged that there existed throughout Fiji’s history a dominant, powerful tribe called Bau. Even so the power of a Chief was never stable, being a warring people, ‘men lived for war and killing, and life was very cheap[3]’. Life was so dangerous that men, even during times of ‘peace’ or non-tribal conflict, be armed and constantly on guard. For example it was not unusual for a man to carry about them a plethora of clubs, and spears as they went about their daily chores[4]. And so the reasons for warfare ranged from avenging the death of kin to the pursuit of Chiefly power, to cannibalism[5]. Basically any reason for a fight would do.

A common feature of religion throughout Polynesia was the many deities that controlled daily life. Besides daily survival, religion was a dominant part of life for the ordinary Fijian. More so during times of war when religious ceremonies were conducted to ensure success in warfare and for protection. And while much scholarly work has been written about the unquestionable power of Priests in traditional Polynesia, Priests of Fiji, just like their Chiefs had to prove their worth. Fiji had many war gods who were ferocious in their nature as the men in battle were themselves. For example there was Cagawalu of Bau, the cannibalistic god, or Wairua the war god of Rewa, and Batimona a vicious god who had an ‘over-riding passion for human brains’[6]. Thus the role of the Priest was to communicate with the gods to ensure a successful war campaign and the invincibility of warriors and Chiefs. These rituals were conducted in temples called bure kalou (see Appendix1) or god houses in which were kept the weapons of past heroic feats and the deities themselves. Interestingly these war temples were neglected during peacetime and repaired again when needed. Such was the nature of religious practice in Fiji. Remembering the survival of a Priest was in predicting a successful war campaign and in protection of the warrior his failure to do so resulted in death unless he had already escaped. Sometimes even the desecration of the temples and deities within. For the Fijian warrior the gods embodied humanistic traits of men, and so could challenge these gods and demand an explanation for the failed conflict[7]. So important was war in Fijian society that not even the omnipotent gods of war were immune to it.

Before the introduction of the musket, in warfare the most favoured weapon of choice for the Fijian warrior and his Chief was the war club. So revered was this weapon that it was given its own name through ceremony. The war club gained mana and tapu through the killing of another person regardless of whether they were man, woman, or child. A war club was designed for hand-to-hand combat. And throughout Polynesia the head of a person was tapu, so to take the life of another by clubbing them to death on the head exalted one to the coveted koroi or killer status. Such was the aura afforded to the war club that it required a specialist craftsman to make. Thus the production of war clubs was not the domain of women. Normally these craftsmen came from a family guild attached to the household of the Chief, and they were known as the matai-ni-malumu. A Chief of enormous wealth could award these craftsmen handsomely for their work and war clubs were expensive objects to purchase for the ordinary Fijian. Hence the pre-occupation of the men when not at war was to make their own war club and various other weapons[8]. Otherwise the war club could be acquired through various means such as, inheritance, given up by the enemy or upon presentation by the Chief during war campaigns[9]. A matai-ni-malumu had to be familiar with the different types of wood and trees to make the war club, sometimes growing the sapling trees themselves. Because of Fiji’s mountainous geography there were a variety of woods and dense hardwoods to choose from. The tools used to make war clubs in general included, items such as stone adzes; hardwood hammers, splitting wedges, shell scrapers, a simple drill and mushroom coral or shark or ray skin. To polish, various species of leaves were used, oiled down with candlenut or sometimes the dilo (Callophyllum inophyllum) fruit[10].

On display in the Pacific Lifeways gallery of the Auckland War Memorial Museum is an example of the Fijian war club called the totokia (beaked battle hammer). To set the scene goddess Kave, from Nukuoro of the Caroline Islands greets the visitor. Added to this experience is the traditional music playing in the background. The age of Kave is estimated to be 160 years old standing at two metres in height she was made from a breadfruit tree. She is an anthropomorphic figure of a woman. Beautifully carved and simple in her detailing, her shape is geometric and symmetrical in style and has a polished finish. She may have been taller, but for her legs being cut off from the knees[11]. A sign of conversion to Christianity. The purpose of the design and layout of this exhibition is to reflect the diverse Pacific Island and predominant ethnic groups that make up the New Zealand population[12]. This exhibition is a narrative of a Pacific Islanders journey from their homeland to Aotearoa. An explanation for the inclusion of Melanesia in the collection from the tour guide was the establishment of Missionary schools in Mission Bay. And only one of the original buildings still exists. The imposing figure of Kave is a good introduction to the gallery as a way to showcase the skill and ingenuity of Oceanic peoples. Because she was not hidden behind protective glass, one is able to get a feel for the reverence she once had in traditional Micronesia.

The Fijian display is integrated with Samoa and Tonga on either side, briefly informing visitors of the historical inter-island trade between the three island groups[13]. Also is an explanation of the gendered roles in Fijian society, emphasizing that only men worked with wood. The totokia is encased with tools, various war clubs s as well as other items that would have belonged to the Chief and marked their status in society[14].  Items carefully chosen to highlight the stratified society of traditional Fijians by focusing on the wealth of a Chief, hence inclusion of the totokia.

The totokia is an impressive weapon. Highly polished and made from an unknown dark hardwood, possibly local oak, this totokia looked to be about over one meter in length, and the handle looks similar to a very heavy truncheon. There is no added detail in the handle and the base of the handle is flat[15]. The major work is saved for the face of the club. As with many club designs in Fiji, generally they were highly stylised shapes of nature. The bulky head, possibly twenty to thirty centimeters in diameter is modeled on the pandanus fruit common throughout Polynesia, with a beak jutting out from the middle. The purpose of the beak is to peck or drive a hole through the skull of an opponent[16]. There are different varieties of the totokia sometimes they were known as the ‘tooth of or beak the kingfisher’[17]. And if they belonged to a famous warrior they were given names such as the ‘penis of so and so’[18]. There seemed to be some scratches at the neck of the totokia whether that was from battle one can only imagine.

Understandably this weapon was carried by a Chief in life and death, favoured because it was designed for ambush and battle in thick bush. The long handle but heavy head made it a silent killer in its execution[19]. Heavy and powerful this lethal weapon needed a master of strength and skill to handle it. It is only fitting then a person of great status and power should own one. 

Without overloading the visitor the display of the totokia was presented thoughtfully, but was missing some important elements. Alongside were limited examples of tools of manufacture, ornately designed war clubs and other trappings of wealth such as the headrests and a very large polished kava bowl. A variety of tools should have been included to emphasis the skill of the maker in producing such incredible objects from simple items as shells, stones and leaves. Possibly use of photographs if actual tools were not available. A quick explanation of the types of geography in Fiji would re-inforce the way in which the environment influenced what resources were available in producing these objects, particularly the totokia. The impression that one gets is a viewer would assume these beautifully crafted objects were made with modern tools such as nails or axes. As overheard of a mother commenting to her daughter about the simplicity of life in Polynesia! As incredible as the objects are in themselves. And the way they were presented to show the changes from traditional to integration of colonial influences. This seems to be lost on the viewer. As a way to overcome this, adding a variety of actual tools with the totokia would emphasise the skill, resourcefulness and ingenuity of a seemingly primitive peoples. Such was the ingenuity of the Fijian they gave inspiration to director George Lucas of Star Wars fame.

In-text Citation

Anthony J. P. Meyer and Olaf Wipperfürth, Oceanic art = Ozeanische Kunst = Art océanien (Koln : Konemann 1995).

Fergus Clunie, Fijian Weapons & Warfare, (Suva: Fiji Museum, 1977).

Sean Mallon, Star Wars and the Fiji connection, accessed 29 Sept. 2013, http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2012/07/04/star-wars-and-the-fiji-connection

 http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/visit/our-galleries/ground-floor/pacific-lifeways.

 http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-82441657/stock-photo-bure-kalou-spirit-house-in-fiji-old-illustration-sacred-temple-and-cannibalism-scene-created.html

Marian Dyer, [Tools of trade photograph]. September 2013.

Marian Dyer, [Kave goddess]. September 2013.

Marian Dyer. [Samoa-Fiji-Tonga]. September 2013.

Marian Dyer. [Fiji’s weaponry]. September 2013.

Marian Dyer. [Totokia detail]. September 2013.

Marian Dyer. [Totokia head detail]. September 2013.

Bibliography

Jones, Anna. “Exploding Canons: The Anthropology of Museums”. Annual Review of Anthropology. Vol. 22, Issue: 1 (1993). 201-220. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed 27 Sept. 2013).

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=40de9fa4-3d99-4b7a-95cd-38ba9e562212%40sessionmgr14&vid=3&hid=11

Lasser, Ethan W. “An Unlikely Match: On the Curator’s Role in the Social Work of the Museum.” Museum Management and Curatorship, Vol.27, No.3 (2012). 205-212. Taylor & Francis Journals Complete, (accessed 27 Sept. 2013). DOI: 10.1080/09647775.2012.701993

Petrov, Julia. “ Cross-Purposes: Museum Display and Material Culture (essay)”. Cross Currents, Vol.62, Issue: 2, (June 2012). 219. Academic OneFile, (accessed 27 Sept. 2013). http://www.wiley.com.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/bw/journal.asp?ref=0011-1953

[1] Sean Mallon, Star Wars and the Fiji connection, accessed 29 Sept. 2013, http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2012/07/04/star-wars-and-the-fiji-connection.

[2] Anthony J. P. Meyer and Olaf Wipperfürth, Oceanic art = Ozeanische Kunst = Art océanien (Koln: Konemann 1995), 458.

[3] Fergus Clunie, Fijian Weapons & Warfare, (Suva: Fiji Museum, 1977), 8.

[4] Clunie, Fijian Weapons & Warfare, 4.

[5] Ibid. 12.

[6] Ibid. 13.

[7] Ibid. 15.

[8] Ibid. 93.

[9] Ibid. 94.

[10] Ibid. 95. See also Appendix 2.

[11]  http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/visit/our-galleries/ground-floor/pacific-lifeways. See also Appendix 3.

[12] http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/visit/our-galleries/ground-floor/pacific-lifeways.

[13]  See Appendix 4.

[14] See Appendix 5.

[15] See Appendix 6.

[16] Fergus Clunie, Fijian Weapons & Warfare, (Suva: Fiji Museum, 1977), 115. See also Appendix 7.

[17] Clunie, Fijian Weapons & Warfare, 115.

[18] Ibid.115.

[19]  Ibid. 115.

Appendix 1 Example of a bure kalou or god house

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-82441657/stock-photo-bure-kalou-spirit-house-in-fiji-old-illustration-sacred-temple-and-cannibalism-scene-created.html

Appendix 2- Tools of the trade, photo taken at Auckland War Memorial Museum from the Pacific Lifeways exhibition-Example of adzes they may have used-Marian Dyer

Appendix 3- Photograph of Kave goddess from Pacific Lifeways-Marian Dyer

Appendix 4, Photograph taken of Samoa-Fiji-Tonga connection display-Marian Dyer

Appendix 5- Fiji’s Weaponry display-Marian Dyer

Appendix 6-Totokia detail-Marian Dyer

Appendix 7 Detail of Totokia head-Marian Dyer