From tribal tatooing to permanent modern design on your body.

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From Tribal tattooing to permanent modern design on your body2

by Rosa Arlotto3

“Not one great country can be named, from the polar regions on the north to New Zealand in the south which the aborigines do not tattoo themselves!”4

Charles Darwin – The Descent of Man 5

A tattoo renaissance is believed to have began in 1960, though tattooing has been found all over the world since the Ice Age to our own day and though Aboriginal people from Arabia to America and the South Seas have been the ones to produce the art, tribal tattooing has been in steady decline even as it has become fashionable . Tattooing or permanent design on your body, in the U.S. and the world has emerged as widely appealing social form.
The tribal tattoo dates back through time and place and in many instances connected to our own heritage. Some tattoos found date back to thousands of years, in 1991 for instance, in the Austrian Italian Alps, a mummy more than 5,000 years old was discovered with 57 tattoos and in 1948, a Russian Archeologist found a Scythian chieftain with multiple zoomorphic tattoos. In 1891, mummified remains of Egyptian priestess Amunet clearly showed to have tattoos in her arms, legs and below the navel.
There are many different traditions of tribal tattooing in North America and around the world denoting rank with tribe, for example for the Illinois Indians it was common for war to be tattooed in men and war tools to be tattooed in women.. Tribal tattoos were kept to minimum compared to Timucua tribe who were heavily tattooed. The Timucua lived in Florida and their tattooing symbolized wealth, rank, tribal affiliation, direct family, their role in society, strength and deeds of bravery. Tribal tattoos varied from simple lines or circle patterns to highly stylized pieces of work; holes were made on the flesh with various objects and berry juice was rubbed on wounds. Tattoos were also meant to indicate certain aspects of their lives, for instance the Washita tribes tattooed dark rings around their eyes so they would appear to be “Raccoon eyed”. Inuit tribes tattooist were mostly women, experience and duties made their hands perfect for tattooing. They used a mixture of lampblack, urine and graphite as the pigment for her indelible tribal art. The artwork the aboriginals thoughts was nurtured with spiritual power able to wade off evil spirits and cure sicknesses associated with evil spirit. The tattooist would take a strip of sinew, string it though the flesh, and soak it in the pigment. It was typical for women to be “denied “ the privilege of being tattooed as such adornment and niceties would be as saying that women were as equal to men , however such tribes such as Omaha daughter’s chief could be marked with spots on forehead to represent the sun.
In Canada on Queen Charlotte Islands, the Haida tribes decorated themselves much more Then other coastal tribes and its body art resemble heraldic designs depicted in totem poles today still in existence and images depicted in pictures were symbols of crests and family history. The designs etched high on back between shoulder blades as well as on breasts and thighs and below the knees represented images and events in life. . Women had painted images on their shoulders
from knees to ankle. Animals on hands and arms always announced the family names, mythological and legendary creatures and fanciful interpretations were common norm and typical tribal expression.
In Quebec Inuit’s women were tattooed in order to be admitted to the tribe, and other Eskimo women painted lines to decorate their chin as did homosexual men also to make known that they were just like women, wore women ‘s clothes and did women’s work.
Asian Tribal tattooing in Japan was done for many reasons. The women would tattoo their bodies to resemble their goddess so that they might scare away demons and diseases; they tattooed their mouth, hand, clitoris and sometimes their forehead. They also tattooed their hands for poor eyesight. Girls that were of age to enter society tattooed as well as women that were to wed. If women did not tattoo properly before being wed, she was taught to have committed a sin and instantly damned to death
Much of the tattoos in Japan were speculation mainly derived from sculptures of figure mark. In later years, tattoos gained a criminal stigma in Japan and body suits now believed to be adorning the Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) and were adapted actively as a punishment for violators of the law. A three-stroked symbol applied upon the forehead, one strike per offence. In Polynesia, the method of tattooing is most painful and different sizes of chisel and objects are necessary in the application... The Samoa tribal tattoo was applied with carved Boar tusk, sharpened with a piece of coral attached and affixed to the stick. This tool used to carve the designs into the flesh by tapping it against the skin, Sugar water was rubbed into the resulting wound. Outside Auckland the Sulei still believes that elaborate geometrical designs of the traditional body suit is the rite of passing to manhood. In the Maori tradition “Ta Moko” (tribal tattooing) the warriors painted their faces before each battle. They began to make the lines permanent rather then reapplying charcoal with each battle. It was said that a man without face painting was a poplea (plain face) and was considered an outcast and a nobody. . In China a 2500 years old Pozy chieftain mummy stills wears his tattoos. The powerful equestrians died when he was 50, though his body had deteriorated series of tattoos clearly representing rams, deer and artistic beasts are indeed visible on his foot and chest. Whether the chieftain tattooed his body to show off his noble blood or as a sign of belonging or as a badge or as remedy to relieve back pains nobody knows except that the permanent body art has survived to this day.
Tattooing in Russia prisons is a means of communication and as a secret language. In wartime, tattooing was a form of protest. Likenesses of Stalin screwing a pig painted on chest with ink made of burned shoe leather and urine were a few of the many examples common in these places.
In the Bering Sea, in the Northwest coast of Alaska for the Iban tattoos signifies the taking of trophies. Wading off harm and diseases Paraplegias of tattoos are on display in shops in the Philippines where tattooist claim heroic achievements and deeds for instance the display of a head of a Japanese soldier whose brain he says he ate. . Local tattoo technique is applied in the flesh by a needle fixed perpendicular to the end of the stick on the
In addition, with a little mallet that drives the needle high speed the ink is injected on skin.
In Scotland in the legendary land of the Picts, mysterious sculpted images of animals, abstract design and Christian crosses showed onto the flesh. The Picts used a bleu dye derived from a mustard plant called “Woad” to tattoo their bodies. , no one knows whether tattooing indicated rank or caste but the entire society tattooed from head to toe
Therefore, the significance of tattoos is extremely important.
In the Philippines, tattooing is a rite far from being extinct, and body painting institutionalized peace pacts reinforced rites of kinship and cemented social ties.
In San Francisco in the eight Century, tribal skin art was exotic practice for the Upper Class. Merchant’s sailors returning from voyages in the South Seas bought tribal skin art instead of postcard and souvenirs. Members of the British aristocracy went out at sea and returned home with tattoos. . The first western tattoos were kept discreetly hidden but when in port cities artists began inking prostitutes and criminal the tattoo became a mark of a low life and people who lived emarginated from society. For hundred of years the tattoo everywhere remained underground and the tattooist was considered an outcast inspected and persecuted by the law In the 1980 tattoo have become more socially acceptable. Moreover, media and magazine working at class roots are making tattooing more palatable for the middle class. Celebrity tattooing and piercing have lessened greatly the stigmatic perception of lowliness tattooing has become highly fashionable. Rock band like Red Hot Chili Peppers have long embodied the Tattoos and movie stars like Pamela Anderson and Angeline Jolie and Johnny Depp are among the most popular stars tattooed. In sports, tattooing is also an endorsement to show off the muscular body and most talked about form of expression. In football seasons, brands and logos of mascots are visible on player’s arms and fans. The visibility of these tattoos on movie stars a, rock singers and fashion models have created a new industry and business Fashion and as well as a new a new movement for high custom tattoos, studios geared to affluent clientele demanding that vendors provide best service in respectable surroundings.6

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