Samoan Culture Tattooed man standing against a rock, 1885-1900, via Te Papa Thus, for these people, tattoos did not just have social but also religious and cultural significance. Only the most essential members often made these in their society, e.g., priests who had been taught to perform the procedures. Women would have similar designs, but with more delicate floral patterns on their hands and lower parts. Tongan warriors are often tattooed from the waist down to the knees in geometric patterns of repeated motifs, bands, and sections of solid black. Not only are they some of the oldest, but they have a distinct tattooing style compared to other Polynesian people. Tonga has some of the oldest evidence of Polynesian tattoos based on the fact it was settled first by the Austronesians before the other Polynesian islands. Nowadays, people use tattooing to express and preserve the Polynesian culture, which western ideology had long suppressed. Luckily, since the 1960s, there has been a cultural revival of Polynesian traditions like tattooing. In addition, European colonialism banned tattooing in the 18th century due to religious views about marking one’s body. However, the downside to this new fascination was that tattoos were being worn with little understanding of their cultural connotations. It became a popular tradition to get their arms adorned with tattoos when they traveled to Polynesia. These exotic designs and cultures inspired sailors. It was here the word tattoo found its way into the English vocabulary.
In 1771 Captain James Cook returned home to Europe from his Pacific Voyage to Tahiti and New Zealand. Son of a New Zealand Chief, the curiously tattooed, by Sydney Parkinson, after 1784, via Te Papa Museum This shows that the art form went beyond simply decorating one’s body but was also a critical religious act tied to cultural traditions. These sons became the patron gods of tattooing Matamata and Tū Ra’i Pō. In Tahitian Legend, Ta’aroa was the supreme creator of the world and he had two sons that were said to have created the first tattoos. Please check your inbox to activate your subscription Thank you! Thus, the meaning behind each tattoo did vary between island groups and, undoubtedly, it evolved. In other contexts, tattoos were like tribal patches and even entailed protective spiritual elements. Polynesian people used tattoos to express their identity and personality, with various meanings assigned to each design based on the cultural context.įor example, in a hierarchical society, tattoos represented certain social ranks or may have been reserved sloley for the leaders of a tribe. However, it is believed that the tradition is at least 2,000 years old. When the art of tattooing came into the Polynesian culture is hard to say. But the visually strongest style is definitely Marquesan, which has these big patches of deep black that are really impressive.” “ Samoan and Maori tattoos are probably the most significant tattoo styles from Polynesia today, based on how much we see them in the media in general.
I am attaching a few (very rough) sketches just to give a better idea.Polynesian Tattoo Art The settlement of the Pacific by Austronesians who later became Polynesians, via Te AraĪccording to Jean-Philippe Joaquim, anthropologist and director of the documentary film Tatau: the Culture of an Art: * I generally don't like the animals/faces, but I'm open to experimentation. Each section filled according to the styles in the examples above.
A circle and two or three wide v's underneath. Maybe a thin line vertically off-center right which has some red.Ģ. Each section would have a different fill according to the style in the examples above. Upsidedown triangle, split into three sections horizontally.
Design your own polynesian tattoo free#
I have two concepts in mind, though feel free to be creative:ġ. * Everything by this guy: - especially the manta ray and the marlin's tail The design should be some sort of Polynesian / Maori tribal tattoo. I'd like the design to be black and white with maybe a dash of red as an accent color. I'm looking to get a 6-8 inch tattoo down my right side from the middle of my rib cage, down to the bottom of my ribs.
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