Overview
In 1959, a museum display artist made this model of a tattooed Marquesan warrior. At the time the practice of tattooing was disappearing, and the model was almost a monument to a vanishing art form. But since the 1980s there has been a revival in tattooing across east Polynesia, and interest in Pacific tattoo designs has spread across the world.
The Marquesan warrior
The man is tattooed from head to foot, as was the custom for warriors from the Marquesas Islands in the early 1800s. The tattoos formed a closely-worked pattern of stylised human faces, turtles, and other creatures which covered the body like a kind of protective armour or shell.
The decorations around the warrior’s wrist and ankles are made of human hair, adding to the ferocity of his appearance in battle. His ‘u’u (wooden club) is both a weapon and a symbol of his prestige.
The tattooing process
The process of tattooing, and the ceremonies associated with it, were as significant as the tattoos themselves. Tattooing marked important events in the life of Marquesan men and women, such as coming of age, giving birth, and winning in battle. High-ranking men and women were tattooed in specially built houses, and for some of them tattooing became a lifelong work of art, with new tattoos being laid over the old.
The tattoo artist would be well looked after and paid handsomely, and the finishing of the tattoo would be celebrated with a feast.
Tattooing in the 21st century
In New Zealand, Polynesian and local Maori tattooing have now become so popular that one writer has claimed that ‘New Zealanders of all kinds seem more tattooed than people anywhere else I have visited.’(1) Tattooing is strongest in Maori and Samoan communities where it still has important ceremonial and cultural roles. But it is also popular with young people, who often use smaller more affordable tattoos like arm and leg bands as a statement of ethnic identity.
Reference
(1.) Nicholas Thomas, ‘Marked Men’ in Art Asia Pacific Number 13, 1997
Text originally published in Tai Awatea, Te Papa's onfloor multimedia database.