RD4 One Thousand Words Equals Tatau

Cara Kamehiro
May 2, 2011
RD4

One Thousand Words Equals Tatau

A picture is worth a thousand words and actions speak louder than words. There are a bunch of different types of art from paintings, sculpture, photography, sketching and so on, but many might not consider tattooing to be a form of art. Tattoos date back in history for over a thousand years in each culture from the tiny islands in the pacific to the huge countries like China.   Many cultures like Japanese and the Polynesians consider tattoos a form of art, and have been displaying this art for thousands of years. The art of tattoo and the tattoos itself is like a story of each persons journey of life, and a way of making the body "beautiful." The human body is an amazing work of art itself of evolution but who would have thought that this would be a canvas for artists around the world? A picture in someones' living room or bed room can define the whole room or even the whole house. [Thesis] A picture is worth a thousand words and if actions speak louder than words, is a tattoo a picture of a thousand words or an action that speaks louder than the picture? [Thesis]

Tattoos in Polynesia has been around since the 1400s, and was believed to be the start of this tattoo art. The word tattoo can be broken down into two parts, 'ta' which means striking something and the word 'tatau' which means to mark something. 'Tatau' is used in a lot of the little islands of Polynesia like Tahiti, Tonga, and Samoa, but the Hawaiians use the words 'kakau.' Another way of breaking down how the word tattoo came about is that 'tata' means repeatedly done by hand and 'u' means color, when the westerners came to Polynesia the word 'tatau' became tattoo. These Polynesian tattoos are not just for show, they define who you are, your role in society, what you do-like a job, battles you won, and people you killed in battles. These tribal tattoos are a sign of protection, and it was believed that the right tattoo would shield you from bodily harm and evil spirits. In Samoa tatau means honor, strength and virtue of Samoa, this is what they believe tattoos represent on their bodies. Polynesians used tools made by hand from the barbs of a fishes tail, birds' beak, or the boars' tooth. There are many different names for this tool like 'tapulu,' 'nefo,' and 'moli,' because Polynesia has different cultures their languages have different names for different things. In which ever language, this tool is the modern day needles that are 1-2 inches wide and has 30-40 teeth, today they use metal instead of bones of animals. This metal or bone is attached to a wooden stick for the handle. The needles are dipped in the ink made from the burnt soot of Kukui nuts are tapped into the skin by a stick called sausau by Samoans. These tattoos are believed to be received after a child goes through adolescence and becomes the man of the house taking on more responsibilities and more chores like work as a fisher or a hunter. These tattoos of the adolescence is a passage into adulthood, a mark that a transformation in your life occurred. Another reason to get a tattoo would be after accomplishing a milestone in life like after graduating college or high school, or succeeding in work and settling down in life. The person receiving the tattoo, usually does not tell the artist what he or she wants, but he desides based on the reasons why you want to get a tattoo and where you want it. The artist allows the sketch pen to flow freely by what just comes to him spiritually. Most of these tattoos are a symbol of a spiritual art. Usually in Samoa the men have tattoos from their waist down to the end of their knees, it is a long process of 1-2 weeks. You would need a tattoo to enter a chief's house, and after getting the full complete tattoo in Samoa you were believed to be a better man, like a rebirth. 

In Japan the art of tattoos were believed to start over fifteen hundred years ago. The earliest evidence of tattoos in Japan were on life size clay figurines sculpted after real people after they died. These statues were tattooed to prepare this person to enter the spiritual unknown. These tattoos were supposedly religious and magical in the after life to protect them from the unknown. In the middle ages Japanese government banned certain theaters, paintings, and dresses known as kimonos. Since these dresses and paintings were banned, the Japanese would tattoo their whole body known as body suits that were colorful tattoos that looked like the kimonos and the paintings. In 297 AD the Chinese saw these behaviors of the Japanese and in all of Chinese context of tattoos were always negative. The body suits were only done on the men ranging of all different ages. During the seventh century most of the Chinese cultures were adopted by the Japan rulers and the tattoo became a form of punishment instead of an art. In 720 AD was the first record of tattooing used as a punishment. After the sixth century tattooing was used to identify criminals and outcasts. Outcasts would be marked with a cross on their inner forearm, a straight line on either their outer forearm or upper arm. For criminals the symbol tattooed on their arms or  sometimes forehead were symbols of the different areas of Japan. For instance there were symbols of a pictograph of a dog, patterned bars, crosses, double lines, or circles all depended on what area of Japan the crime was committed. Any tattoo till today on any part of your body, any picture or symbol is looked down upon in Japan. Family members find it dishonorable and the community makes it hard for someone with a tattoo to find a job and to live in Japan. Tattooing was the worst sort of punishment you could get for being an outcast or for committing a crime.

Today tattooing has changed in so many ways. The needle is attached to a handheld tool that moves the needle up and down at a rate of several hundred vibrations per minute. This needle penetrates the skin about one millimeter deep and electrical, which means no pounding by hand. The tattoos today have fancier symbols, figures, and pictures than just the ancient geometric shapes and lines. People still do body suits like the ancient Japanese, but in Japan it is still frowned upon to have any sort of tattoo. People with tattoos in Japan are known to be the Yakuza, or the under ground gangs. People with Polynesian font phrases and the ancient symbols of Polynesians are usually the people who still have the Hawaiian, Tahitian, Tongan, or Samoan blood in them. There are tattoos of pictures, shapes, and phrases with meanings to their lives and their journeys. In Hawaii, tattoos are viewed harsher than the ancient Hawaiians seen tattoos. It used to be a norm, a gift, an honor to get a tattoo in the past, and today you get might not be allowed a job if you have tattoos. Society has changed a lot from the ancient times and like Japan tattoos in Hawaii are not as exposed on the body as they used to be. Nowadays there is a tattoo called Henna that is a tattoo that only lasts for about a month or two. In the ancient Polynesian days the henna tattoo is the ink from an acidic plant that is pounded into the skin that lasts only six months to a year. Since today henna tattoos are not pounded in the skin, and only applied to the surface of the skin they only last for a couple of months. There is now cosmetic tattoos like the eye liner, eye brows, and lip lining tattoos which are just like permanent make up.

Tattoos have spread to places all over the world. It is said to have started in the Polynesian triangle, and to have a tattoo depends on the culture you live in. Everyone is different and will have a different reason for getting the type of tattoo, picture, phrase, symbol embedded in their skin. Some use this form of art to remember a certain moment in their life of success or accomplishment, help them remind themselves of a better life, help remind them to be their better self, remember another form of art, or represent respect of a loved one. The human body has become a permanent living canvas to artists not only of pictures and sketches but to help make the body beautiful, like permanent make up. A picture is said to be worth a thousand words, and multiple permanent pictures on our body gives society a thousand reasons to judge us as now an art of tattoos are frowned upon. Artists want to be heard and when one sees this art displayed in such a bold way, people tend to turn a blind eye and disregard what people are trying to say. A tattoo starts off as an idea, a drawing, an emotion, and a picture, instead of turning away at the sight of a bold statement, we should embrace it and accept what truly lies inside our minds, hearts, and skin.