Maori Tattoo Design messups, Avoid These Common Maori Tattoo Faults

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Hidden Meanings Behing Maori Tattoo Designs  

The number one secret to why the west love maori tattoo designs

The word “tattoo” was believed to have come from the Tahitian word “tatau”.  When Captain James Cook on the other hand witnessed tattooing for the first time in Tahiti in the early 1769, he used the word “tattow”.

tattoo maori designs.

What you need to know about mataora and niwareka.

Who would’ve thought the love story between an ordinary man and a princess of the underworld would be the root of tattoos and tattooing? According to Maori mythology, this is the story of Mataora which meant “Face of Vitality” and Niwareka.

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Mataora beat Niwareka once, and she ran back to her father’s realm which was named “Uetonga”. 

Mataora, filled with guilt and heartbreak followed after his princess. After he overcame numerous obstacles and trials, Mataora was able to arrive at “Uetonga”, with his face paint messed and dirty. Unfortunately, because of his disheveled appearance, Mataora got taunted and mocked by Niwareka’s family. Mataora begged Niwareka for forgiveness in his very humbled state, and she eventually accepted. The art of tattooing was offered by Niwareka’s father, and at that time, Mataora also learned the art of Taniko.

When Mataora and Niwareka returned together to the human world, they brought with them the arts of Ta moko and Taniko.

Ta is what the process was called, and Moko was the product itself.

Tattooing came from Eastern Polynesian culture to New Zealand according to archaeological evidence.

The bone chisels used for tattooing can be found in archaeological sites of various ages in New Zealand, as well as in some early Eastern Polynesian sites. No evidence exists that the Moriori people practiced tattooing, while the Maori does.

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 There are maori walking around right now in new zealand that have maori tribal tattoos that date back 2,000 years, if one of these chiefs looked at these designs, they would be able to tell how far back they go and yes some of these designs go back over 2,000 years 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.

Maori Tattoo Designs Found Here

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