Tribal Tatoos

Borneo: One of the few remaining places where traditional tattooing still takes place. The hand tattoo was a symbol of status in life and also served an important function after death. It was supposed to illuminate the darkness as the soul wandered in search of the River of the Dead.

Tribes in Borneo:
Barawan: An upriver tribe, also a name for the a type of tattoo worn on the chest of shoulder of a man.

Iban: A tribe of Borneo who’s tattoos are of a dog design (right)
And of a scorpion design (left).

Kenyah: This tattoos is designed for a mans chest of shoulder (below).

Kayan: In this tribe Sihong is the name for a female tattoo designed for the thigh. Position of tattoos on women show their class.

Ida telo, is the tattoo placed on the back of the thigh on slaves. (left)

Ida pat, for middle class women, also on the back of their thigh. (right)



Ida tuang or Ida lima, goes on the back of the thigh of a high class woman. (below)

Udo Asu are dog tattoos for the Kayan tribe, a double dog design for the outside of a mans thigh. (above)

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Samoa: In Samoa, tattoos are part of religious rituals, the Samoa Warrior would have tattoos which start at their waist and go down to just below their knee, the Samoa women also had tattoos, though their tattoos were limited to delicate flowers on their hands and lowers part of their body.

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Westernised Tribal Tattoos

Tribal tattoos are very popular in western culture, though many of the designs are not the same as the originals and sometimes made up by the artist. When western culture takes on tribal tattoos, this can be very offensive to the native tribes, as those tattoos have very special meanings and a lot of westerners do not know the meanings, or wear the designs in the wrong places or wear designed which carry offensive meanings.

One type of Tribal tattooing which causes a lot of offence is that of the Ta-moko by the Maori tribe in New Zealand.

Ta-moko (or Moko when only on the face) is a very sacred form of tattooing, which carries special meanings. A Moko tells a story, while men cover their entire faces, women only tattoo their chin and forehead. Each line in a Moko tells parts of the wearer’s life. What tribe they belong to and what their heritage is.

When the western culture have Ta-moko done, it greatly offends the Maori tribe as the tattoos are telling someone else’s story, and taking parts of someone else’s heritage.

http://www.kawhia.maori.nz

http://www.tamoko.org.nz

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In my opinion, tribal tattoos can be very beautiful if worn in the right way by those who know the meanings. Not only are they beautiful to look at but the fact that they hold such valuable meanings bring out more beauty in them.

I think it is wrong that in western cultures, people wear tribal tattoos without knowing their meanings, as they offend people. However, some tribal tattoos, which have been made up in western cultures are sometimes very nice.