Polynesian Tattoo Designs

When you say the word Polynesian to people, they immediately start talking about beautiful islands, ritualistic dancing and food, but not too much time will pass without vivid descriptions of large, intimidating looking men sporting extensive, if not full body tattoos. . The tattoos were used as a kind of record book to keep track of a person’s personal history. There were specific markings to denote one’s social status, occupation, lineage, and sexual development.

In the late 1700s, Christian missionaries came to the Pacific Islands and made quite a mark. Quite a bit of the native population converted to Christianity, and felt they had to give up their culture to do so. The things that made the people who they were gradually started to fade, and the practice of tattooing was probably one of the first things to go since it is expressly forbidden in the Old Testament.

Eventually the Polynesians resurrected their way of life, and reverted to some of their old customs and practices. The ink once again began to flow and the traditional methods and designs of tattooing became popular again. However, using the traditional tools of the trade was banned in French Polynesia in the late ‘80s because the Ministry of health didn’t feel the wooded and born instruments could be sufficiently sterilized.

The tools are made from needles carved sharply out of bone or tortoise shell and fastened to a wooden piece so that the finished tool looks somewhat like a hair comb. Like the tattoo ink used in the modern day Untied States, what the Polynesians used wasn’t really ink at all, but soot from burning candlenut, and like modern ink, it was combined with a carrier solution to keep it mixed well and make it easier to apply. They usually used water or oil. The needle end of the comb is then dipped into the ink and tapped into in the skin with a hammer-like instrument.

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