The following quotations and illustrations of tattooing in the islands of the Pacific Ocean are presented for comparison, and in hopes that the discussion of the subject may afford further information upon the significance of tattoo marks. It is by no means probable that they were originally altogether or chiefly for ornamentation.
The accompanying illustration, Figure 34, is taken from a bone obtained from a mound in New Zealand, by Mr. I. C. Russell, of the United States Geological Survey, several years ago. Mr. Russell says that the Maori formerly tattooed the bones of enemies, though the custom now seems to have been abandoned. The work consists of sharp, shallow lines, as if made with a sharp-pointed steel instrument, into which some blackish pigment has been rubbed, filling up some of the markings, while in others scarcely a trace remains.
Fig. 34.—Tattoo designs on bone, New Zealand.
In connection with the use of the tattoo marks as reproduced on artificial objects see also, Figure 37, page [76], and Figure 116, page [200].
The following is extracted from Te Ika a Maui, or New Zealand and its inhabitants, by Rev. Richard Taylor, London, 1870, p. 320, etc.
Before they went to fight, the youth were accustomed to mark their countenance with charcoal in different lines, and their traditions state that this was the beginning of the tattoo, for their wars became so continuous, that to save the trouble of thus constantly painting the face, they made the lines permanent by the moko; it is however a question whether it did not arise from a different cause; formerly the grand mass of men who went to fight were the black slaves, and when they fought side by side with their lighter colored masters, the latter on those occasions used charcoal to make it appear they were all one.
Whilst the males had every part of the face tattooed, and the thighs as well, the females had chiefly the chin and the lips, although occasionally they also had their thighs and breasts, with a few smaller marks on different parts of the body as well. There were regular rules for tattooing, and the artist always went systematically to work, beginning at one spot and gradually proceeding to another, each particular part having its distinguishing name. Thus,
- 1. Te kawe, which are four lines on each side of the chin.
- 2. Te pukawae, six lines on the chin.
- 3. Nga rere hupe, the lines below the nostrils, six in number.
- 4. Nga kohiri, a curved line on the cheek-bone.
- 5. Nga koroaha, lines between the cheek-bone and ear.
- 6. Nga wakarakau, lines below the former.
- 7. Nga pongiangia, the lines on each side of the lower extremity of the nose.
- 8. Nga pae tarewa, the lines on the cheek-bone.
- 9. Nga rerepi, and Nga ngatarewa, lines on the bridge of the nose.
- 10. Nga tiwana, four lines on the forehead.
- 11. Nga rewha, three lines below the eyebrows.
- 12. Nga titi, lines on the center of the forehead.
- 13. Ipu rangi, lines above the former.
- 14. Te tonokai, the general names for the lines on the forehead.
- 15. He ngutu pu rua, both lips tattooed.
- 16. Te rape, the higher part of the thighs.
- 17. Te paki paki, the tattooing on the seat.
- 18. Te paki turi, the lower thigh.
- 19. Nga tata, the adjoining part.
The following are female tattoos:—