I-Kiribati warrior armour

Visually striking and intricately crafted, the traditional armour and weaponry of the Kiribati islands in the Pacific Ocean were built from coconut fibre, human hair, sharks’ teeth and porcupine fish. Yet, fearsome and lethal as these objects were, the people of this remote archipelago weren’t especially warlike, as British colonists had long assumed, but were instead part of a ritualised style of combat intended to keep violence between clashing groups to a minimum. In this video, Julie Adams, the head curator of the Oceania section at the British Museum, and Kaetaeta Watson, a master I-Kiribati weaver based in New Zealand, discuss both the making and the meaning of these objects. This includes how, after these traditional crafts all but disappeared from Kiribati after the arrival of Christian missionaries in the late 19th century, advocates including Watson are working to preserve them.