Thanks Alan, I'm not sure it's a repair job since there is a separate area of the same lighter coloured wood on the hilt well below the part that would be damaged if they drilled the hole for the pesi too deep; this other piece of lighter coloured wood is oriented in the same direction as the first, which seems intentional. This should be visible in the very last photo I posted in my last post.
It looks to me more like someone glued some different pieces of wood together and then carved the handle from that composite block of wood - suggesting the banding is a deliberate design feature.
Regarding the hilt cup, now that I look at it, the hilt cup seems to be carved from the same lighter coloured wood that has been incorporated into the hilt, suggesting it is original rather than a recent/non-cultural replacement.
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