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Lady Fox's Laissez Faire

Tattoos & Body Piercings: A Human Tradition

By Ladyfox 5/16/2006

For centuries people have been scarring themselves to decorate their flesh. Don't believe me? Well check out the June issue of National Geographic. In Peru, a mummy was found with ornate tattoos on both arms. The mummy was reported as being from 450 A.D. (more than 1500 years ago), and was a fierce warrior. And even more surprising – the mummy was female.

This female warrior mummy is an amazing find for anthropologists and historians alike. But as a tattoo enthusiast, I found it exciting too. I've heard numerous comments about how only "thug no-good gang members" get tattoos, or that tattoos are some kind of "new fad" sweeping the nation's youth. In truth, tattoos have been a form of body art for thousands of years.

The grave of the Peruvian mummy also included headdresses, jewelry, gold, semiprecious stones, and war tools, such as spears, swords, and war clubs. The items in her tomb suggest that she was an important figure in society, and was revered amongst her people. Her tattooed arms had ornate designs of the Moche.

How exactly did the people of the past do tattoos? Obviously there were no tattoo machines, which is how most people are tattooed today. The common tattooing machine (or "tattoo gun") was invented by Samuel O'Reilly in 1891. Samuel improved on a previous design by Thomas Edison, which didn't succeed commercially. In fact, there wasn't even electricity thousands of years ago.

So how did they do it??

My search leads me to www.mootatau.com, which is headed by Pili Mo'o. He is a proprietor of the ancient art of tatau. The word tatau literally translates to "hitting repeatedly". That is exactly how the ancient art of tattoo was, and still is, performed. A tatau artist, or a tufuga, is armed with a "comb", or au, that is handmade out of sharpened boar's teeth, that is fastened with a bit of turtle shell to a wooden handle. The artist uses a mallet to tap the ink-laden comb into the skin, embedding the ink, and thus, a tattoo is born. This process is repeated until the desired image is achieved. The art is incredibly painful, and in the past left the person at great risk of infection (modern sterilization processes eliminate this worry). You can also visit http://www.dreadloki.com/pivot/pivot/entry.php?uid=standard-767&action=show for a complete history of Samoan-style traditional tatau.

I have an appointment with Pili Mo'o in June at the All American Tattoo Festival, and of course I'll upload some pictures of the finished product. Though I am not Samoan, I truly feel that keeping alive a traditional artform such as tatau is vital to all societies. To take a step back in time, and know what my tattoo enthusiast ancestors would have gone through to decorate their bodies is a thrilling, as well as humbling idea. I believe that modern day tatau shows the world that tattoos have been around for centuries. Like my warrior sister from Peru, I'm going to wear my tattoos with pride as a valuable member of my community. Wish me luck!

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