OLD PIRA

[tanaruz]

Originally Posted by Lee

Very nice and similar in the core parts to that I posted in your other thread. The additional wrappings on your family's example surely show evidence of a well cherished blade.

With your family connections, could you inform me of how these were carried and used in the times after WWII? Were they seen primarily as a weapon or were these routinely used and carried tools for everyday tasks (such as machetes are in tropical Latin America)?

Hello,

Thank you for your very kind words. In my experience during the 80s, I often see piras as being carried around their waist (life the barungs/kris). Sometimes, when they are seen on the laps of men(when they are sitting down). It's been used both a weapon and an agricultural blade. It is the favored blade weapon of the Yakan people of Basilan.

Regards

Yves