Part I - Scrapbook

Parts of the body and its meanings

Every body part has a meaning and a purpose, here we can see how it was structured and divided:

A little bit of history

Here we have a piece of history, sharing how Captain Cook found New Zealand in October 1769 and saw for the first time a tattooed Maori warrior.

They had/have different meanings and designs both for 

Men

and

Women

John Rutherford was, in 1828, the first Englishman to show these tattoos back to England, after being held prisoner by the Maoris for more than 10 years.

Tā Moko were sacred, and here we can see how they were done and a representation of a warrior.

Real skin from a dead body to keep the art from the tattoo, placed on a body-shaped piece of wood.

This wish to keep the art on the skin was not only a thing related to Maori and Tā Moko, here we can see an ancient Peruvian mummy, kept to maintain the tattoos on her skin.

 

 Old statue representing tattoos

 Nowadays representations on males

Nowadays representations on females

Motifs and body parts

As previously said, there were different motifs and body parts were a Tā Moko could be placed, and each one had different meanings:

on women,

 on men,

 on the chest,

 on arms,

 on the bottom, 

or on legs or feet.

  

Maori people with tattoos

Many Maori dignataries were portrayed with their Tā Moko, by Charles Frederick Goldie (1870–1947)

A modern-day Maori fisherman

Guy Lemaire, a Belgian showman, with a Tā Moko representation on his face.

Tools

The main tools to perform a Tā Moko were horns or shark tooth, and two sticks. Just like that.

Modern-day techniques have changed from the ancient ones...

...were even needle combs were used.

 Stamps were used in other islands

And here is where the ink was prepared, mostly from resin and coal.

For any further information, please follow me on the next stop of my trip.