Description (Physical description)
Nifo'oti. Toothed club. Wooden club with series of 11 teeth down one edge of the blade. 5 of the teeth are partially missing. Hook at distal end runs up and along the edge of the blade without teeth. Rows of triangular surface carving run along the face of the blade. Hole drilled at base of the grip.
Event Date 12/6/2025
Author: jimmy ma'ia'i

Context (Analysis)
The nifo'oti are a unilaterally toothed club, with a trademark hook curving up and along the non-toothed edge. The name nifo'oti combines from Samoan words for tooth, or teeth; nifo, and death, 'oti. According to Te Rangi Hiroa, Sir Peter Buck, this definition is contentious.

Augustin Kramer states in The Samoan Islands, Vol. II, Material Culture, that the hook (or tooth) was used to drag the corpse of the fallen opponent, after which, the head was to be removed and placed on the hook as a trophy.
This is likely where the name for the club was coined.

These clubs were usually paraded around by the Taupou (experts in Samoan hospitality, dance, ceremony, among other things) of the villiage, and became purely ceremonial as Samoa shifted to a more peaceful existence. Nifo'oti are still used today in Samoan dance, however, these are often made with a steel blade and wooden handle, and without the trademark toothed edge.


Event Date 12/6/2025
Author: jimmy ma'ia'i