How To Avoid Maori Tattoo Design Fakes
What Everyone should know before getting a maori tattoo design
maori tattoo designs found here
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 Which will allow like an elder to look at the pattern and tell you some ones family history based on design, the moko and pattern! See there is more than meets the eye with a maori tattoo design There is a common misconception around the world thinking that maori tattoos in their original sense were only done on the faces, however this is not true, they were also done on peoples bodies, what this allowed them to do was distinguish their chiefs or leaders by having these marking on their faces
maori tattoo designs click here
Maori Tribal Tattoos
It is now common for westerners to have maori tattoo designs, this can be seen as a way of promoting the maori culture, however do you know that is a form of stealing maori tradition and culture? At first it might not seem apparent when taking symbols and images from the maori culture without having an idea of what they mean, but you should never do this as they might belong to a family who have had this maor tattoo designs in their family tree for years One thing not to do is to go out into the world of maori tattoo designs and just start copying any design, this could lead to a situation of stealing some maoris family tree
The sad fact is that this is what maoris think of people that steal the maori tattoo designs?
The word “pakeha” might not mean anything to you as a westerner however in the maoris language it is associated with negativity, those that never asking for anything and simply take without asking! Wouldn’t you say that this sounds more like stealing someones culture? Well this is what the maori think of other people and especially the western world for taking their tattoos, they feel that not only did they loose their land but also now they are loosing their culture of tattoo designs
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 how will this effect your decision when getting a maori tattoo?
The simplest thing you can do is not to go out and copy the first maori tattoo design that you see on a maori in new zealand for starters, you would be surprised how many people have done this!
The best thing to do in this case when seeing a traditional maori tattoo design that you like would be to contact someone in new zealand that actually deals with maori tattoo designs and ask them what they think, yes i know this doesnt seem logical or easy but it is for the sake and request of this culture it is what makes the maori the maori! They need these designs and they need you to respect their requests or you could be contributing to their doom as a culture that might not be around in the next 300 years!It is only when Maori tattoo designs are copied when someone else has already gotten that Maori tattoo already within a Maori tribe that make them feel that their spirituality is being stolen
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
There are still Maoris that can trace their history with these maori tattoos There are some leaders of maoris that are still alive today that would be able to look at certain designs and tell you who or from which tribe these tattoo`s belong too Some of these tattoos go back 2000 years, yes that right all through just looking at the design and finishing of the tattoo they will be able to tell certain maoris families origins. What most people don’t realise when looking at a design is that they tell a story, though they look like a swirl or twirl to us, they actually tell a full story when you know how to read these tattoos.
September 5, 2010
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Posted by Jam Man
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