HomeOnce upon a time in history when it came to getting a tattoo the maori used the bones of albatrosses to do their inking or they used brutal chiseling tools that would make any modern man cry by cutting deeply into the flesh then painting or coloring which was used to distringuish the family history and the final part was the actual pattern which would then tell you the story of this maori tribe 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 sameMost people think that the maori tattoo designs are limited to the face only though this is not true, it was only done on certain peoples faces within the maori tribes, these people were significant within their maori circles.
These are the best Maori Tribal Tattoos
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.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?This is what will happen if you just go out there and start copying maori tattoo designs
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.
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.
From the maoris point of view taking from their culture without asking them or having a design on you that is a replica is a weakening of their identity in terms of their culture, westernising them further through the stealing of their heritage and also they feel that they will eventually have nothing left that is sacred and original for them to hold onto in the future.
So now that you understand some of these ideas and concepts how is this going to help you in finding the right 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 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 hoursIt 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
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