Date Accessed: March 28, 2013
Date Accessed: March 29, 2013
For this project, I will incorporate the background information of traditional Samoan tatau and the history of the malu and pe’a. They will help me provide the context for the understanding the separation of the genders in the Samoan culture from the tattoos.The two
articles that I will be providing the background and historical context are
Lars Krutak’s article, Embodied Symbols
of the Souths Seas: Tattoo in Polynesia and Jon Asipa’s article on the
‘Tatau Samoa History’ and the ‘Meaning
of Tatau’. The main argument is
that the practice of Samoan tatau is gendered.Lars Krutak is a tattoo anthropologist that graduated from University of Alaska Fairbanks and has his Ph.D from Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change. Krutak traveled around the world from Mexico, Yugoslavia, and even in the Artic. The art of tattooing is passion and worked with many people around the world (larskrutak.com). In his article, Embodied Symbols of the South Seas: Tattoo in Polynesia, talks about the Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Tahitian, Marquesas, Hawaiian, and even the Rapa Niu practice of tattooing. This article was copyrighted in 2013 and published in 2010 by Krutak. Again, we will focus more on the traditional Samoan tatau.
Mana, means power and tattoos in the Polynesian culture as a whole can be seen as source of power. Krutak mentions that mana can be acknowledged through an individual’s class/social position (even their own reputation), genealogy, and guidance (people who had guided them through their lives). And power is a very desirable trait that chiefs and warriors want to have because with power comes authority to being able to create a certain society or keep the tradition going. On the contrary, Krutak brings up that there is an opposite side to power and it is taboo, or tapu, in the Polynesian language. For chiefs, their offspring, and tattooists (tufuga ta tau) retain their share of taboo because of “their shared identity with the divine…and especially substances like blood and food that either flowed out of or entered the body” (Krutak 2010). As for the tufuga, they have great mana because of their skill to create such symmetrical designs with the compositions and the careful line work that are achieved on the human body. Therefore, mana is a very important aspect in the Polynesian culture as a whole.
For the pe’a, the translation in the Samoan language is “flying fox” and it is a very powerful motif in the Samoan culture because in a legend, Tilafainga, goddess of war, who brought the practice of tattooing into Samoa, escaped a military mission in Tonga and then was stuck on a deserted island. She was then rescued by flying foxes. So the pe’a back then could only be on the members of the highest rank in the society and taboo for anyone that is considered less than them. Krutak quotes Su’a Sulu’ape Petelo, Samoan tattooist, that the pe’a takes after a flying fox that is hanging from a tree, where the wings surround its body (like a bat) and as for the head is the male’s penis; this motif stands for protection.
Krutak introduces the legend on how the practice of tattooing came about in Samoa of where the these two sisters from Fiji swam to Samoa singing songs of women being tattooed from their land. As they were swimming, they saw an oyster (Pasefika.com mentions that it was a large clam) and they went down to get it. When they came back to the surface, this is where they switched the song from the women being tattooed to the men only getting tattoos. There are different versions of this legend. Also, Krutak has the exact lyrics to the song that the women sing during the tattoo session in order to try to sidetrack the man from the pain. And it goes like this:
Friend, stop your wailing and moaning,
that is not the pain of a sick person,
That is the pain of a novice!
Relax your body like giving up,
Give in, o chief!
Soon you will receive your pretty chains of adornment
As yet they are separate and not joined;
The necklace is still in pieces and not quite finished.
Give in, o chief!
But soon in the evening
You will look at your tattoo,
Comparable to a fresh ti leaf.
Give in, o chief!
Ah, if it were a burden
I would carry it for you in my love.
O be quiet and give in,
I will withdraw when the blows have fallen.
Give in, o chief!
The stylet and hammer strike,
The color is applied so that it may adhere.
Give in, o chief!
Like water flows your blood,
Ah, I feel pity for your condition,
Give in, o chief!
But this is the custom ages old,
You constantly moan, but I sing.
Women must bear children,
Man must be tattooed.
And the tattooer will be struck by the trade wind.
Give in, o chief!
The necklace may break, the string may break
But your tattoo will not break.
This necklace of yours is permanent.
And will go into the grave with you.
Give in, o chief!
Ah, you suffer beneath the blows, Ah, till you fall asleep,
And you are not tired nor weary of it!
(Krutak 2010)
Jon Apisa, an artist and a website designer, created pasefika.com articles here on Hawaii and they were copyrighted in 2013. Apisa was raised here in Hawaii and graduated from UNLV. Apisa writes briefly on the history of the tatau of the malu and pe’a where their origins are passed through oral tradition through songs and legends. Jon Apsia writes down the same legend as what Lars Krutak has in his article, the only thing that is different is that Apsia has the two Fiji sisters, Taema and Tilafaiga going underwater to see a large clam, while Krutak mentions an oyster. In the three sections of ‘Tatau Samoa History’, Apsia glimpses over it and mentions some very useful literature for people who are interested in reading more into the history.
Apsia brings up the importance of the men having a pe’a and so does Krutak, and they rarely mentions why it is important for the women to have a malu (in the two articles). It seems in both of these articles generally focuses on why men are more praised into getting a pe’a rather the women. Again, this is supports my argument that the practice of Samoan tatau is gendered.
Mana, means power and tattoos in the Polynesian culture as a whole can be seen as source of power. Krutak mentions that mana can be acknowledged through an individual’s class/social position (even their own reputation), genealogy, and guidance (people who had guided them through their lives). And power is a very desirable trait that chiefs and warriors want to have because with power comes authority to being able to create a certain society or keep the tradition going. On the contrary, Krutak brings up that there is an opposite side to power and it is taboo, or tapu, in the Polynesian language. For chiefs, their offspring, and tattooists (tufuga ta tau) retain their share of taboo because of “their shared identity with the divine…and especially substances like blood and food that either flowed out of or entered the body” (Krutak 2010). As for the tufuga, they have great mana because of their skill to create such symmetrical designs with the compositions and the careful line work that are achieved on the human body. Therefore, mana is a very important aspect in the Polynesian culture as a whole.
For the pe’a, the translation in the Samoan language is “flying fox” and it is a very powerful motif in the Samoan culture because in a legend, Tilafainga, goddess of war, who brought the practice of tattooing into Samoa, escaped a military mission in Tonga and then was stuck on a deserted island. She was then rescued by flying foxes. So the pe’a back then could only be on the members of the highest rank in the society and taboo for anyone that is considered less than them. Krutak quotes Su’a Sulu’ape Petelo, Samoan tattooist, that the pe’a takes after a flying fox that is hanging from a tree, where the wings surround its body (like a bat) and as for the head is the male’s penis; this motif stands for protection.
Krutak introduces the legend on how the practice of tattooing came about in Samoa of where the these two sisters from Fiji swam to Samoa singing songs of women being tattooed from their land. As they were swimming, they saw an oyster (Pasefika.com mentions that it was a large clam) and they went down to get it. When they came back to the surface, this is where they switched the song from the women being tattooed to the men only getting tattoos. There are different versions of this legend. Also, Krutak has the exact lyrics to the song that the women sing during the tattoo session in order to try to sidetrack the man from the pain. And it goes like this:
Friend, stop your wailing and moaning,
that is not the pain of a sick person,
That is the pain of a novice!
Relax your body like giving up,
Give in, o chief!
Soon you will receive your pretty chains of adornment
As yet they are separate and not joined;
The necklace is still in pieces and not quite finished.
Give in, o chief!
But soon in the evening
You will look at your tattoo,
Comparable to a fresh ti leaf.
Give in, o chief!
Ah, if it were a burden
I would carry it for you in my love.
O be quiet and give in,
I will withdraw when the blows have fallen.
Give in, o chief!
The stylet and hammer strike,
The color is applied so that it may adhere.
Give in, o chief!
Like water flows your blood,
Ah, I feel pity for your condition,
Give in, o chief!
But this is the custom ages old,
You constantly moan, but I sing.
Women must bear children,
Man must be tattooed.
And the tattooer will be struck by the trade wind.
Give in, o chief!
The necklace may break, the string may break
But your tattoo will not break.
This necklace of yours is permanent.
And will go into the grave with you.
Give in, o chief!
Ah, you suffer beneath the blows, Ah, till you fall asleep,
And you are not tired nor weary of it!
(Krutak 2010)
Jon Apisa, an artist and a website designer, created pasefika.com articles here on Hawaii and they were copyrighted in 2013. Apisa was raised here in Hawaii and graduated from UNLV. Apisa writes briefly on the history of the tatau of the malu and pe’a where their origins are passed through oral tradition through songs and legends. Jon Apsia writes down the same legend as what Lars Krutak has in his article, the only thing that is different is that Apsia has the two Fiji sisters, Taema and Tilafaiga going underwater to see a large clam, while Krutak mentions an oyster. In the three sections of ‘Tatau Samoa History’, Apsia glimpses over it and mentions some very useful literature for people who are interested in reading more into the history.
Apsia brings up the importance of the men having a pe’a and so does Krutak, and they rarely mentions why it is important for the women to have a malu (in the two articles). It seems in both of these articles generally focuses on why men are more praised into getting a pe’a rather the women. Again, this is supports my argument that the practice of Samoan tatau is gendered.