Post #14462 by bigbrotiki on Thu, Nov 21, 2002 3:10 PM

Shrunken heads are legit Tiki Bar decor, even though they do not hail from Polynesia (the one in that postcard must be an early tourist item from South America).Just like Zombies, which are from Haiti, all weird savagery is fair game to enhance the "Seven Seas" atmosphere of a Tiki bar.

This is not to say that Head HUNTING was not existent in Polynesia: The Maori Mokomai (BOT p.178) are such trophies, yet often erroneously referred to as "Shrunken Heads", yet they are merely DRIED (and tatooed) heads, with the skull still inside. In other Polynesian islands, the head, as the seat of mana, was a desired trophy, but they were not preserved.

The New Guinea head collectors kept whole skull racks in their men's meeting houses and painted the skulls, but SHRINKING is a South American peculiarity.

In my hometown of Hamburg, sailor's bars displayed these head souvenirs, and at Harry's Harbour Bazaar you could view a REAL shrunken head that was kept hidden from sight for the fee of one dollar.

All I have in my collection is a real monkey skull...cute lil' thing