Oceania Tattoos

The tattoos of Oceania have their origins in antiquity, their designs in mythology and are a reflection of the social status of the wearer. The Maori legend states that tattoo was created by Ruaumoko, the god of earthquake, as a memorial to his despair and awe at the separation of his father Ranginui, the god of the sky, and his mother Papatuanuku, the god of the earth. Uetonga, the grandson of Ruaumoko and Hine nui te Po, the goddess of the underworld was a master tattooist and of a pale skinned and fair haired peopel known as the turehu.

The legend goes that Mataora, a handsome young chief, met and fell in love with Niwareka, daughter of Uetonga. Mataora persuaded Niwareka to live with him but one day he hit her. She left him and returned to the underworld. Mataora, grief struck by what he had done, followed. In his travels he met Uetonga who was carving the face of a chief with tools - blood was flowing from the incisions. Mataora's face was painted with ochre and Uetonga told him that such a tattoo was only fit for wood - he smudged the tattoo on Mataora's face. Mataora then asked that his face be tattooed. Although Mataora's face was so swollen, he had to be fed and could only drink through a funnel, words spread that he was a handsome man - made more handsome by his tattoos. Niwareka came to see and discovered that the man was her lover.