Tribal Tattoos Picture
Maoris are the indigenous people of New Zealand. These tribes are unique in having permanent body and face markings. They chisel the skin while making the designs, instead of puncturing as routinely done in tattooing. The chisels are made from albatross bone which were hefted onto a handle, and struck with a mallet. This type of chiseling is known as "tatau" and is still in practice in Malaysia. You can find many tribal tattoos pictures available here.
Penning these designs differ with the sex. Men generally receive on their faces, buttocks and thighs. Women usually have them on their lips and chins. Other parts include the foreheads, neck and backs of women, and the backs, stomachs and calves of men.
The awheto, 'Vegetable caterpillar' was used traditionally by Maori for making tattoo ink and ngarehu (burnt timbers) for the blacker face color. Maori tribal tattoos are popular. For making pigment, they mixed the soot from burnt kauri gum with the fat. An ornamented vessel named oko is used for storing the pigments and is often buried when not in use. These vessels were handed over on to the successive generations. Till 20th century, only men have predominantly practiced this tattooing business. Later only, women folk took to this business.
