View source for U'u

The '''U'u''' is a war [[Club (weapon)|club]] of the [[Marquesas Islands]].
[[File:War club ('u'u), Marquesas Islands, late 1700s, carved and stained ironwood (toa), sennit, human hair - Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, MA - DSC05085.jpg|thumb|U'u of the Marquesas.]]

Cut from [[iron wood]],<ref>{{cite book |author1=Eric Kjellgren |author2=Carol S. Ivory |title=Adorning the World: Art of the Marquesas Islands |date=2005 |page=85 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-1-58839-146-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j6o16TFwcV0C&dq=u%27u+war+club&pg=PA85 |via=Google Books}}</ref> its shape and large size distinguish it from other Pacific [[Gunstock war club|gunstocks]]. It was reserved for a caste of warriors who were assisting allied tribes.<ref name=Meyer>{{cite book |author=Anthony JP Meyer |title=Art océanien |publisher=Könemann |date=1995 |page=506}}</ref> The club should at least reach its possessor's armpits. The striking head, although apparently identical, was richly carved, and it is an artistic work with drawings representing lizards, human figures, or [[tattoo]] patterns.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author=Hope B. Werness |encyclopedia=Continuum Encyclopedia of Native Art: Worldview, Symbolism, and Culture |page=314 |title=U'U |date=January 2003 |isbn=0826411568 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y5nr5fGiHIC&dq=u%27u+war+club&pg=RA4-PA14 |via=Google Books}}</ref> U'us were left in a [[taro]] field, where they turned black, and then were coated with coconut oil.<ref name=Meyer/>

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Eastern Pacific lands; Tahiti and the Marquesas islands (1910) (14591559368).jpg|U'u's striking head.
File:War club, Marquesas Islands, 19th century.JPG|U'u war club, National Museum of Scotland, [[Edinburgh]].
File:Mouina, Chief warrior of the Tayehs Wellcome L0040399.jpg|Tribe chief with a U'u.
File:Nuku Hiva Warrior1.jpg|[[Nuku Hiva]] warrior with tattoo and his U'u.
File:U'u, Akau Too - Marquesas.jpg|U'u
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* John Charles Edler, Terence Barrow, ''Art of Polynesia'', Hemmeter Publishing Corporation, 1990.
* Anthony JP Meyer, ''Art océanien'', Könemann, 1995.

{{Weapons}}
{{French Polynesia topics}}
{{Marquesas Islands}}
{{Polynesia}}

[[Category:Marquesas Islands| ]]
[[Category:Clubs (weapon)]]
[[Category:Primitive weapons]]
[[Category:Ritual weapons]]


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