Nias Warrior’s Armor and its Fundamental Values

Nias headhunter (human head collectors) was once a feared and victorious warrior. The society is famous of its complex social structures, anti-earthquake architecture, detailed wooden and stone statuary, along with its vicious warriors. Since the independence of Indonesia, war costume production stopped. Moreover, the need to pay taxes and daily necessities causes the once great warriors into abandoning his identity completely. For tourism purposes, war costume is produced with cheap materials and less details, resulting in losing its fundamental meanings. This paper aims to analyze Nias unique war costume, specifically the armor and its fundamental values based on the armor’s structural design and materials. The data were obtained by ethnographic research in Nias Heritage Museum and the village of Bawomataluo. Literature research were done by collecting cultural and historical books, historical images, previous research article and journals related to Nias custom, history, and war issues. The data were then analyzed using the psychology of dress theory by creating a dialogue between the Nias armor and the self. The result shows that based on its structure, the armor shows ‘magnificence’ and according to its material, the armor signifies ‘power’. By identifying the fundamental meaning of Nias war costume’s fundamental values, the identity of the warriors can be an important heritage to Nias descendants and Indonesia society as a whole.