Coconut armour is unique to a very few islands in the Pacific, including several islands of the Kiribati group and the nearby island of Nauru. The Kiribati warrior at the Otago Museum wears armour made from coconut and fish skin and holds swords made from sharks teeth bound together with coconut fibre and human hair. The impact of this armour is as much in the psychological and visual impact as in the sense of spiritual and physical protection it gave the wearer.

Kiribati

Kiribati is located at the intersection of the equator and the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean. It is made up of 33 islands, all coral atolls except Banaba, spread over three million kilometres of the Pacific. Kiribati used to be a protectorate of the British, and was called the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. In 1979 the Gilbert Islands became the Republic of Kiribati, and the Ellice Islands became the Republic of Tuvalu. Kiribati is a transliteration of Gilbert’s, because prior to European settlement, each island was known by its own name.

The low lying islands of a coral atoll offer few resources, resulting in a reliance on the few land plants – coconut and pandanus, as well as the resources of the sea. The people had to improvise with the few resources they did have, and one thing they weren’t short of was coconut. Pacific people make use of every part of the coconut tree – eating the flesh, drinking the milk, thatching houses with the fronds, brewing toddy from the sap of young stalks and building their houses and boats with the wood. The wood and fibre of the coconut palm was put to another use when combined with another ready resource – the shark tooth, making simple but terrifyingly effective weapons.

The shark tooth spear was used in tribal warfare, family and other feuds. The sharks tooth spear was an important part of a young mans initiation into manhood. The men of the father’s side of the family had very important roles in guiding a boy to manhood. Before he could carry weapons the boy had to become a warrior.

This process began with the first haircutting ceremony. At the age of two, a boy would have his first haircut. Only men close to the boy, such as uncles, grandfathers and his father attended this ceremony. His father, father’s brother or father’s father cut the boy’s long hair off using a large shark tooth. His hair was not cut again until he was 20. The shark tooth spear was made of old, seasoned, coconut wood with sharks’ teeth lashed onto the blade with coconut fibre and human hair, saved from the boy’s haircutting ceremony. 

The Armour 

The most vulnerable parts of the body were the arms, legs, armpits, the groin, throat and face. In order to protect these parts, the armour was knitted or woven from coconut twine creating a very strong but flexible fibre. The armour is made up of trousers, a vest, and a jacket. The jacket has a high collar to protect the back of the head. Across the stomach is a piece of dried stingray skin to protect the stomach from spears. A skullcap is also made of plaited coir twine, up to 2cm thick, overlaid with a porcupine fish hat. This fish inflates itself to frighten away attackers, and this attribute has been used in the Kiribati Islands for the protection of people as well.