page_title: Nias people
section_title: Weapons
hierarchical_section_title: Nias people / Culture / Weapons
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Foto. naam reprofotograaf: Irene de Groot/Paul Romijn datum repro:2001. Portret van een drietal krijgers bij Hilisimaetano
context_page_description: Nias people are an ethnic group native to Nias, an island off the west coast of North Sumatra, Indonesia. In the Nias language, the Nias people are known as Ono Niha; which literally means 'descendants of human'. While Nias island is known as Tanö Niha, where Tanö means 'land' in the Nias language.
  The Nias people are a community that continues living within the norms and practices of their indigenous culture. Customary law of the Nias people is generally referred to as fondrakö, which regulates all aspects of life from birth to death. Historical evidence of megalithic structures and carvings of stones that are found in the interior of the island proved that ancient Nias people practiced megalith culture. The caste system is also recognized in Nias society, whereby the highest level out of the 12 levels in the Nias caste system is Balugu. In order to reach this level of the caste, one must be able to carry out big festivals by inviting thousands of people and slaughtering thousands of pigs for several days.
context_section_description: The Nias people is almost always presented as a warlike people known for their headhunting activities and human slavery, even at present time. Despite of this, none of the war-like activities are carried out by the Nias people as the majority of the Nias people has been converted to Christianity. Nevertheless, the Nias people were still known as a skillful weapon and armor-makers.
  The Nias people used a variety of material for the creation of their weaponry: leather, cord or woven fibres, precious metal, iron and brass. The Nias used spears, swords and blades as their weapon. The Nias spear (toto'a doho in the south, toho in the north) was mainly used for hunting; the shaft is made of dark hardwood of nibung palm wrapped with rattan. Other type of spears are the burusa, with a triangle-shaped head. The Nias sword (gari) is a combat weapon; both the sword and its sheath have simple undecorated form.  The most well-known of the Nias weapon is the balato or tolögu, a steel sword with a protective amulet believed to possess magical power. The balato has a hilt made of brass. The sheath of the balato contains a spherical bundle of rattan (ragö balatu) which performed as a protective amulet. This protective amulet is usually attached with a variety of objects e.g. animal fangs which is formed so that it looks like the jaw of the mythical lasara. The balato is only reserved for the highest nobles as a kind of proof of the authority and the social rank of its owner. 
  Some prominent chiefs covered their armor with sheets of gold. Helmets can be made of iron or tightly woven palm fibers. The oval-shaped shield is known as the baluse in South Nias, while the North Nias produced a hexagonal-shaped shield known as the dange.
caption: A group of Nias warriors holding the Baluse (shield) and Burusa (spear), and with Balato (sword) at the side of their waist.
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