Why Maoris Might Not Like Your New Maori Tattoo Design
So you think that getting a tattoo by today’s standards is painful, well traditionally the maori made deep cuts into the skin using brutal tools and yes also the bones of albatrosses, for the maori to be able to distinguish themselves from the other tribes they used the color of the ink to tell the family history and the patterns on the skin would then allow someone to interpret the family history of these patterns So lets say you were an elder in a maori circle someone who knew a lot about maori history if, if some one brought you a design, you would be able to by looking at the design the moko and the maori tribal tattoo pattern be able to trace their family history, much like someone using computers to find out their ancestry, they would be able to do the same Many people teach that or tell other that maori tattoos in their original roots of tattoo designs were only done on the face and now they have moved to other parts of the body now, however this is utter rubbish they have been done for centuries on maoris bodies, it was only people high up in maori circles who tended to get these tattoos
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Many westerners like to imitate Maori tattoo designs and as the saying goes, imitation is a form of flattery, but not in all cases especially when getting a Maori tattoo design. You should never go and copy anything in the form of tattoos from the maoirtanga without having a clue as to what it means, there could be a chance that a certain design belongs to a maori familyThis is what will happen if you just go out there and start copying maori tattoo designs
How would you like to know what maoris really think about other cultures and especially now the western cultures stealing their identity and culture?
White people are know as “pakeha” and are know for never asking but just taking (in terms of culture and land) they also see most westerns as close minded never seeing other cultures, what is amazing is that the native Americans also said this about the white man in America.
The Maori see maori tattoo designs that are not done right as weakening their spirituality, their culture, and see the west as thieves for not having their own originality when getting maori tattoo designs.
So now that you understand some of these ideas and concepts how is this going to help you in finding the right maori tattoo?
Well try not take a Maori tattoo design that you have seen on a chief and copy it!
The quickest way to get a traditional maori tattoo design would be to contact someone in new zealand who is in charge of a tribe or a tribal tattoo artist and ask if the design that you are looking at is not someones design already, though this might seem dumb as mentioned we have to be sensitive to a culture that has shrunk over the last 200 years, with the internet this could be done in a matter of hours Maoris are really only annoyed when you just take, they might even grant you a special maori tattoo for asking, do you want to know how many people would actually ask for a design? Not many! That’s right if you ask you will more likely be given the go ahead for a special maori tattoo design, this way it will be even more unique and you will have a one of a kind maori tattoo design that you can be proud of
The reason identification through tattoos was important for the maori was that they were able to distinguish each other on the battle fields by having a look at the tattoos on their body, this also allowed them to know their family history if they moved places over centuries
Some Maori can still trace their families using these tattoos Amongst the maori of today live a few maori chiefs or maori leaders that would actually be able to tell you which tribe a certain maori tattoo belongs too, when it was done and the history of that tribe The are designs that date back over a 2,000 year period in maori history, these chiefs have the skill and ability by looking at the design would be able to tell how far this tattoo dates back to or this particular design origins There is a story in each maori tattoo that you see, each one tells a little bit about this maoris tribe and is unique like a finger print to each tribe
