By the 1980s most ancient baluse shields had departed Indonesia for Western collections, and people in Nias replaced the originals with modern copies. Made of lightweight wood, these shields are reinforced horizontally with fiber lashes. Their shape may allude to the head of a crocodile, an animal that instills both fear and awe. Originally used in battle, the shields gradually acquired different meaning when warfare ceased in the twentieth century. Today respected visitors may be greeted at the entrance to a village by a "warrior" in ceremonial dress who holds such a shield.

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