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polynesian warrior tattoos
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Samoan
Warrior.
Photo by: ALaS26
Maori Warriors
BBMaui, Oahu, Hawaii. Aotearoa is the name for New Zealand in Maori (the native language of New Zealand).
Photo by: BBMaui
Maori Warrior
BBMaui, Oahu, Hawaii.
Photo by: BBMaui
Scary Guy
BBMaui, Oahu, Hawaii.
Photo by: BBMaui
Fijian Warrior
BBMaui, Oahu, Hawaii.
Photo by: BBMaui
"Style and Culture", page 185
Fig. 8.11/6. Langsdorff's 1813 engraving of young warrior with eye and face designs. Source: Langsdorff 1813-14. Reproduced in Gell (1998:185), "Style and Culture", Art and Agency: An Anthropological Theory . see also: Great Diagrams in Anthropology, Linguistics, and Social Theory
Photo by: runningafterantelope
na toa maori draft 3
Getting close to final, adding a hei tiki pendant of green pounamu (nephrite jade). Doing that, makes me think that I should add typical pendant material for the Hawaiian and Rapanui warriors also.
Photo by: Goniagnostus
na toa akea
For the moment, the completed trio of the three corners of Polynesia: Hawai'i (North), Rapanui (East) and Aotearoa (West).
Photo by: Goniagnostus
na toa marquesan
The hardest one so far because of the tattoo motifs that cover the body, based on tattoo patterns recorded by Kramer and others in the early 1900s. Most often the old photos show a simple unmarked malo (loincloth). The weapon is the well-known marquesan club. Also distinctive is the two-top-knot shaved head, almost comical to western eyes.
Photo by: Goniagnostus
na toa fiji draft 1
Classic fijian throwing club, recognizable fijian hairstyle (one of many, tho), and single boar tusk pendant, no tattoo, but black face paint. loincloth with front flap. What else is needed? One of the easier ones, a break after the Marquesan and Samoan figures!
Photo by: Goniagnostus
na toa tonga draft 2
Adjusted top of uatongi club to make it clear its mass, and changed short lavalava for mahi (loincloth). Superficially the tongan tattoo (tatatau) is similar to the Samoan pe'a, however, there is more solid black, and different patterns used. Tongan chiefs would send heirs to Samoa to receive the tatatau. The heavy angular club is called uatongi. Although at the moment I have the tongan figure in a lavalava, I have read that in battle the mahi (loincloth) is worn, and did the switch to a more Hawai'i-like wrap.
Photo by: Goniagnostus
na toa Tonga 10 June 2007
Latest revision of this figure is courtesy of feedback from an expert of highest level. Mahalo to Ni Powell, one of the handful of Tongans who have recently rejuvenated the tatatau (full Tongan lower body tattoo), for feedback that the tatatau should end above the knees, while the Samoan pe'a includes the knee joint. Other differences include much more solid tattoo area on the thighs, however it is clear that Tongan and Samoan tattooing traditions have shared origins and many similarities.
Photo by: Goniagnostus
External Material
It is very common to have Chinese character tattoo.
Last modified on 2010-08-21 21:13:00