Are You Makeing These Mistakes With Your Maori Tattoo Design?
7 Common Maori Tattoo Design Mistakes
maori tattoo designs found here
Traditionally the Maori used the bones of albatrosses to do this and other cutting tools, these tools cut deep grooved into the skin, the coloring is for the family history and the story telling is the actual patterns on the skin, 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
maori tattoo designs found here
Here is more info on 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?One should never just take words, images or symbols from the maoritanga or Maori culture with out knowing what they are doing, as to the Maori this is seen as an insult, can you imagine walking around with some maoris family history? 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
Im going to let you in on something, this is going to let you know what maoris think about the western world when they steal their tattoo designs and especially their 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
One thing that is annoying many traditional maoris as mentioned is the stealing of these tattoo designs and the reason that it is annoying them, is the fact that they foresee a day when the maori will have lost everything, they believe they have lost their land, now they are loosing something that makes the maori for who they are today, and that is the maori through their tattoo designs, they feel that this is the last thing to go in terms of spirituality before they have lost all to the west, which is quite sad as all cultures on earth are only bound as a culture through their individual rituals and unique flair such as tattoos in the maoris case.
So what does this mean for you when getting a moari 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 The only time anyone will run into problems with these tattoos is going to copy them straight from one of the elders, big corporations dont like it when someone makes “knock offs” of their merchandise and so it is with this special maori culture, Dont copy rather ask, its easier.
The reason it is important for maoris to know their family history is important especially when they were waring amongst each other over the centuries on and before their arrival of the shores of new zealand
There are still Maoris that can trace their history with these maori tattoossome chiefs can look at a Maori tattoo design, read it like a book, they do this by feeling the texture, looking at the design and the precision that went into getting the tattoo and will be able to trace back some of these Maori family trees.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 might not be apparent at first sight to you or i when looking at traditional maori tattoo art is that each one is an actual story, and each story tells a tale of where this tribe goes back to, their beliefs, spirituality and more.
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Tags: choosing a maori tattoo design, maori tattoo design for you, maori tattoo designs
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