How To Avoid Maori Tattoo Design Fakes
Avoid Poor Maori Tattoo Design Mistakes
In this maori tattoo design article i am going to let you know a few things about maori tattoo designs 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
There are many mistakes people make when getting traditional maori tattoo art and i hope that by the end of this article you will avoid the most common mistakes made today
Today with the ever growing popularity of tattoo art amongst all cultures through our increasing multi cultural society Maori Tattoo Art seem to be the choice of tattoo
In fact maori tattoo designs are some of the most popular tattoo art around and there’s a valid reason why Maori Tattoo Art are so popular in our current multi-cultural societies.
Many tattoo artists and those looking to get tattoos on them, will often imitate other cultures Tattoo Art to try come up with their unique designs. This can be seen as originality or artistic flair when looking at other non traditional tattoo designs but should be avoided when looking at maori tattoo designs.
If you are serious on getting a traditional maori tattoo art and this is what you have set your heart on then it would and should be great for you to learn about the lingo that goes with Maori Tattoo ArtJust like in every field on life there are terms associated with the way people do things, so it is with traditional maori tattoo designs. For the family identification part of the maori culture, those that form part of the ta moko family group are 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 on and before their arrival of the shores of new zealand
Some Maori can still trace their families using these tattoos Amongst the maori of today live a few maori chiefs or maori leaders that would actually be able to tell you which tribe a certain maori tattoo belongs too, when it was done and the history of that tribe The 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 would be 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
Once 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 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 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 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? 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
Would you like to know what maori`s think of white people and other cultures that steel 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
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 how will this effect your decision when getting a maori tattoo?
The easiest thing to do is to copy a design, however like i have mentioned this should be avoided, never ever go out and just copy a design that you see on a maori in new zealand
Rather approach a tribe if you can and ask them if you may use their design or if this is not an option when choosing a Maori tattoo design, then try design your own design, it may look like a Maori tattoo but in reality it will not offend anyone. 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? Not many! That’s right if you ask you will more likely be given the go ahead for a special maori tattoo design, this way it will be even more unique and you will have a one of a kind maori tattoo design that you can be proud of
black tribal dragon tattoos found here
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Tags: maori tattoo designs, Maori Tribal Tattoos, tribal maori tattoos
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