[BANDOOK]

Originally Posted by Philip

This looks like a "nifo oti" to me, a combo machete and bill hook, with a somewhat longish straight handle, used as a tool and weapon in Samoa. The steel blades were first supplied by cutlery manufacturers in Germany and Britain starting in Victorian times (Samoa was one of Imperial Germany's few colonies, ceded to the UK and US during WW I after British victories over the German fleet in the Pacific). When I lived in Hawaii, I had the opportunity to see the local Samoan community perform dances with these, twirled around in pairs and often set alight after dunking the blades in kerosene, for the entertainment of tourists craving "authentic traditional dancing".

THANKS PHILIP
THATS GREAT INFORMATION,NZ IS VERY CLOSE TO SAMOA SO THAT CONNECTION IS HIGHLY POSSIBLE AS I BOUGHT IT LOCALLY AT AUCTION.
REGARDS RAJESH