Maori Tattoo Designs - How to Get Them Without Roasting Insects

Getting Back Your Mojo With A Ta Moko

Yes, the revered Ta Moko, meaning the 'process' of acquiring Maori Tattoo Designs, has been truly a striking art-form dating back generations. Therefore given their infectious appeal, they have inevitably crossed over from the Pacific Islands to our western societies. The key is however, for us to not let its authenticity be diluted by considering it a mere trend. They are motifs with quintessence.

If we rewind back in time a bit, it all started off with a man and woman's love affair, (in Maori mythology that is...). A tribal Romeo and Juliet, if you will. The man named 'Mataora' at one time during their relationship, assaulted his lady princess named 'Niwareka'. To no surprise, the princess hurt and shamed, left Mataora and returned to her father's monarchy.

Well when this occurred, Mataora was ridden with guilt and earnestly attempted to reunite with Niwareka. He underwent a multitude of trials and tribulations to win her back, which consisted of countless hurdles and hardships during this quest.

Toward the end of his progressively futile attempts, to gain her heart back with repeated begging nonetheless, Niwareka eventually accepted and forgave Mataora for his misgivings.

Look Like A Slob, You'll Get Scorned

The interesting fact however, is when he arrived at her father's domain, Mataora's facial tribal markings, were all disfigured and in complete shambles, due to his long arduous voyage.

Appearing all haggard and disheveled, with face paint that may have looked like Halloween make-up gone awry, Niwareka's relatives scoffed, chided and jeered Mataora, for his less than streamlined symmetrical Maori tattoo designs. His face was just a visionary nightmare.

Little Tribal Grasshopper Learns From Master

Therefore, Niwareka's father thought he could help Mataora, by implementing his tattoo craftsmanship and elected to tutor and mentor Mataora, by guiding him through the intricate art of Polynesian tattoo designs. Whether it was tribal shoulder tattoos, tribal arm tattoos, or even the whole body, the tutoring covered every step.

During this apprenticeship, Mataora also was also taught 'Taniko', which was the implementation of interweaving the semblance of various border colors in this craft. (I would imagine this was the manifestation, regarding the fine complexities of such elaborate patterns).

Eventually, both Mataora and Niwareka returned to the world as everyday mortals, and thus bringing with them the artful mastery of - Ta Moko and Taniko.

No, Not Burnt Furry Critters?

So how does 'roasting insects', or in this case - caterpillars, fit into all of this? Well obviously, pulsating needle guns didn't exist back then and with that, came excruciating hours of injecting ink into the skin - the HARD way. The Polynesians, or at least the Maoris, typically used the bone of the oceanic Albatross bird, as the so-called 'needle'.

Then as another necessary ingredient, they either used burnt gum from the Kauri tree, or, burnt vegetable caterpillars. Poor lil' critters. Who would have ever thought? Flamed-up larva as tattoo ink. How creative is that?

The residue from either of these two soot-like black pigments, were then tapped into the tribesperson with a mallet. Now, we are really looking at a process, which would separate the men from the boys! This tortuous rite of passage acquiring tribal art tattoos, was so unbearable, that musical chants and flute playing was performed, to help quell the evident lengthy pain.

Hmmmm...mallets, bird-bones, burnt caterpillars and flutes, all at once. What an interesting potpourri of components to obtain those awesome designs! Quite exotic actually come to think of it.

No Need For An Airline Ticket

So fast forward to today. I realize that there are many people among us, who actually enjoy the pain of acquiring tribal art designs in some sort of peculiar way. (I even may be a little guilty of that too).

However, I think I'll take the vibrating needle gun, over agonizing tapping mallets. Plus the fact, I'd hate to compromise the butterfly population, by roasting cute and furry caterpillars. I'll gladly make do with the jet black, metal salt dye in the studio instead.

Okay, so we can't just hop on a plane in a heartbeat to the Pacific Islands, nor we really want bird bones inserted in our bodies. But, there is a solution to the tattoo-hunting dilemma without traversing the open ocean...

If you really wish to seek a smooth, easy and very stress-free method of obtaining those striking Polynesian Tattoo Designs, it would be sinful to not check out this little gem.

Here's a resource, where not only you'll have full access to those eye-catching Maori Tattoo Designs plus boatloads of valuable complimentary treats, but also an enormous selection of other tribal art tattoos as well.

Maori Tattoo Designs - How to Get Them Without Roasting Insects

Getting Back Your Mojo With A Ta Moko

Yes, the revered Ta Moko, meaning the 'process' of acquiring Maori Tattoo Designs, has been truly a striking art-form dating back generations. Therefore given their infectious appeal, they have inevitably crossed over from the Pacific Islands to our western societies. The key is however, for us to not let its authenticity be diluted by considering it a mere trend. They are motifs with quintessence.

If we rewind back in time a bit, it all started off with a man and woman's love affair, (in Maori mythology that is...). A tribal Romeo and Juliet, if you will. The man named 'Mataora' at one time during their relationship, assaulted his lady princess named 'Niwareka'. To no surprise, the princess hurt and shamed, left Mataora and returned to her father's monarchy.

Well when this occurred, Mataora was ridden with guilt and earnestly attempted to reunite with Niwareka. He underwent a multitude of trials and tribulations to win her back, which consisted of countless hurdles and hardships during this quest.

Toward the end of his progressively futile attempts, to gain her heart back with repeated begging nonetheless, Niwareka eventually accepted and forgave Mataora for his misgivings.

Look Like A Slob, You'll Get Scorned

The interesting fact however, is when he arrived at her father's domain, Mataora's facial tribal markings, were all disfigured and in complete shambles, due to his long arduous voyage.

Appearing all haggard and disheveled, with face paint that may have looked like Halloween make-up gone awry, Niwareka's relatives scoffed, chided and jeered Mataora, for his less than streamlined symmetrical Maori tattoo designs. His face was just a visionary nightmare.

Little Tribal Grasshopper Learns From Master

Therefore, Niwareka's father thought he could help Mataora, by implementing his tattoo craftsmanship and elected to tutor and mentor Mataora, by guiding him through the intricate art of Polynesian tattoo designs. Whether it was tribal shoulder tattoos, tribal arm tattoos, or even the whole body, the tutoring covered every step.

During this apprenticeship, Mataora also was also taught 'Taniko', which was the implementation of interweaving the semblance of various border colors in this craft. (I would imagine this was the manifestation, regarding the fine complexities of such elaborate patterns).

Eventually, both Mataora and Niwareka returned to the world as everyday mortals, and thus bringing with them the artful mastery of - Ta Moko and Taniko.

No, Not Burnt Furry Critters?

So how does 'roasting insects', or in this case - caterpillars, fit into all of this? Well obviously, pulsating needle guns didn't exist back then and with that, came excruciating hours of injecting ink into the skin - the HARD way. The Polynesians, or at least the Maoris, typically used the bone of the oceanic Albatross bird, as the so-called 'needle'.

Then as another necessary ingredient, they either used burnt gum from the Kauri tree, or, burnt vegetable caterpillars. Poor lil' critters. Who would have ever thought? Flamed-up larva as tattoo ink. How creative is that?

The residue from either of these two soot-like black pigments, were then tapped into the tribesperson with a mallet. Now, we are really looking at a process, which would separate the men from the boys! This tortuous rite of passage acquiring tribal art tattoos, was so unbearable, that musical chants and flute playing was performed, to help quell the evident lengthy pain.

Hmmmm...mallets, bird-bones, burnt caterpillars and flutes, all at once. What an interesting potpourri of components to obtain those awesome designs! Quite exotic actually come to think of it.

No Need For An Airline Ticket

So fast forward to today. I realize that there are many people among us, who actually enjoy the pain of acquiring tribal art designs in some sort of peculiar way. (I even may be a little guilty of that too).

However, I think I'll take the vibrating needle gun, over agonizing tapping mallets. Plus the fact, I'd hate to compromise the butterfly population, by roasting cute and furry caterpillars. I'll gladly make do with the jet black, metal salt dye in the studio instead.

Okay, so we can't just hop on a plane in a heartbeat to the Pacific Islands, nor we really want bird bones inserted in our bodies. But, there is a solution to the tattoo-hunting dilemma without traversing the open ocean...

If you really wish to seek a smooth, easy and very stress-free method of obtaining those striking Polynesian Tattoo Designs, it would be sinful to not check out this little gem.

Here's a resource, where not only you'll have full access to those eye-catching Maori Tattoo Designs plus boatloads of valuable complimentary treats, but also an enormous selection of other tribal art tattoos as well.

maori Tattoo Designs

In this maori tattoo design article i am going to let you know a few things about Maori Tattoo Art and what you should try not do.

This is important especially if you are looking at having a unique and great looking maori tattoo design

Maori Tribal Tattoos found here

There are many mistakes people make when getting traditional maori tattoo designs and i hope that by the end of this article you will avoid the most common mistakes made by most people these days.

These days with the ever growing popularity of tattoo art amongst all cultures through our increasing multi cultural society, traditional maori tattoo designs seem to be the choice of tattoo at the moment, almost like a fashion statement.

In fact traditional maori tattoo designs are some of the most popular tattoo designs around and there's a valid reason why traditional maori tattoo art is so popular in our current multi-cultural societies.

In today's world with so many tattoo artists and so many people looking to get tattoo art, you will find them going through and looking at other cultures in the hope of borrowing or worse of stealing other peoples designs to come up with their own tattoos. This can lead to artistic flair, but not so when choosing traditional maori tattoo designs .

To understand traditional maori tattoo designs you need to understand traditional maori terminology. As you know if you were learning about science or any field there will be terms associated with that particular study and so it is with traditional maori tattoo art. The ta moko is the name of the family identification of Maori that form part of the group known as whakapapa.

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 and before their arrival of the shores of new zealand.

There are still Maoris that can trace their history with these maori tattoos, some 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. There are designs that date back over a 2,000 year period in maori history, these chiefs have the skill and ability by looking at the design and are able to tell how far this tattoo dates back to or this particular design 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.

So you have learnt about the "ta" form of the maori language now its time to introduce the "moko" part, that is the important part as it involves the chiseling of the tattoo into the skin.

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.

What this would essentially do for some one, is that they would, if they were an elder be able to tell the history by looking at the design the moko and of course the patterning of the skin. 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 markings on their faces

There are so many people copying maori tattoo designs these days, many people think there is no harm in doing this, at first sight but is it really ok to steal other cultures identities?

One should never just take words, images or symbols from the maoritanga or Maori culture without 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

How would you like to know what maoris really think about other cultures and especially now the western cultures stealing their identity and culture?

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 ask 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 how will this effect your decision when getting Tattoo Maori Designs?

The safest thing for anyone like you to do is to perhaps look at a few designs for inspiration but try never ever to copy the design like it is on maoris in newZealand.

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 Maoris are really only annoyed when you just take, they might even grant you a special maori tattoo for asking, do you want to know how many people would actually ask for a design?