The legendary New Zealand All Blacks rugby team performs a Maori haka dance before matches. It’s killer. In one video, a player waves a kotiate just like this one. This weapon, carved from hard whalebone, was for hand-to-hand combat, blunt force at close range. Its name refers to its shape: in Maori koti is “cut” and ate is “liver.” One tradition claims that the notches on either side were used to loop the entrails of the enemy. At the end of the handle is a stylized carved head with the haka challenge expression: tongue stuck out, eyes wide and ferocious.

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