Where did tribal tattooing come from?
Tattooing in the Pacific is ancient, and the English word tattoo comes from the Samoan tatau. Across Polynesia, tattoos marked status, rites of passage and identity. Māori tā moko is one of the five main Polynesian styles, alongside Marquesan, Samoan, Tahitian and Hawaiian; its facial designs indicate lineage and social position. It was carved with bone chisels and is a living practice today.
Western tribal is something different. It took root in the United States in the late 1970s, shaped above all by Leo Zulueta, often called the father of modern tribal tattooing. Encouraged by Don Ed Hardy, he studied the designs and cultural significance of tattooing from Borneo, Samoa, Micronesia, Fiji and the Marquesas, then created his own bold, all-black designs, tattooing clients from 1981.
Zulueta considered it disrespectful to copy traditional designs exactly without a personal relationship to those cultures, and drew original work for each client. As tribal went mainstream in the late 1980s and 1990s, much of it was simplified into armbands and lower-back pieces with no cultural meaning at all. Y2K nostalgia has recently brought that simplified look back.
Wearing moko by non-Māori has been criticized as cultural appropriation. To meet demand respectfully, the group Te Uhi a Mataora promotes the term kirituhi, meaning skin writing: a Māori-inspired design that can be worn by anyone, unlike moko, which requires consent, genealogy and history.
How do tribal tattoos age?
- Few styles age better. Large solid black shapes with clear gaps between them stay readable for decades.
- The thin tapered points are the most delicate part. Over many years they soften and thicken slightly, so keep them from getting too fine in the first place.
- Bold black tribal is one of the easiest styles to rework later, whether into a larger blackwork piece or a heavier cover-up.