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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Taupou, post: 4311790, member: 45&quot;]Yes, it does appear to be an Asmat shield.&nbsp; Whether made for sale or not, I can&#039;t say (although it obviously was sold or traded at one time!)&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>There is a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding over the terminology and geography involved, however.</p><p><br /></p><p>Basically, the island of New Guinea is located in the southwest Pacific, north of Australia.&nbsp; The island is divided between two countries, the western half is part of Indonesia, the eastern half is the independent country of Papua New Guinea.</p><p><br /></p><p>To further add to the confusion, the western (Indonesian) part was formerly known as Irian Jaya, until renamed West Papua or Western New Guinea in 2002.&nbsp; It has two provinces, Papua, and West Papua.&nbsp; The Asmat live in Papua.&nbsp; They therefore live in part of Indonesia, and not in Papua New Guinea, which has been an independent country since 1975.</p><p><br /></p><p>So the shield is from Indonesia, from the province of Papua, on the island of New Guinea.&nbsp; But not from the independent country of Papua New Guinea.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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