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Tattoo Anthropologist

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  • Part III: Tattooed Captives In 1654, four West Greenland Inuit were captured by Danish sailors near Nuuk (Godthaab Fjord). They were “acquired” for King Frederik III's curiosity cabinet during a voyage of discovery across unchartered lands in the Far North. Upon their arrival in Bergen (Norway), the King felt that they were so interesting that he had them portrayed in a large oil painting seen here, and in two miniature sculptures of gold and silver that sat atop two narwhal ivory goblets placed at his personal dinner table. Several years ago, I received word that two of the Inuit had also become part of a family’s coat of arms! The goblets can be seen today at the Royal Collections of Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen. In this painting, the faces of the Inuit are peaceful, and the facial tattoos of one woman are carefully depicted. These tattoos are also seen on ancient mummies discovered at Qilakitsoq (West Greenland) in the 1970s in the area where the Inuit were kidnapped long ago. During the final leg of the voyage from Bergen to Copenhagen, the Inuit man died of disease. It was the King’s intention to send the women back to Greenland once they had learned the language and teachings of the Christian religion. However, no more ships sailed to Greenland during the reign of the King, and the Inuit lived in Copenhagen for some years until they died of typhus fever. By then, says one source, “they had learned Danish well and had become well-behaved.” Photo: Painted detail of four Greenland Inuit captured at Godthaab Fjord in 1654 by a Danish expedition sent by King Frederick III. #nuuk #fjord #denmark #inuit #greenland #kalaallitnunaat #tattoo #tattoos #indigenous #tattooedgirls #painting #narwhal #tattoohistory #tattooculture #blackwork #sculpture #portrait #art
  • Part II: Tattooed Captives In 1719, two fully “painted” (tattooed) “American Princes” arrived in London with a mysterious slave trader from the American Carolinas named John Pight. Earlier that year, Pight had come into possession of the two men and hatched a scheme to display them in Europe in a money-making venture. To increase public interest in his tattooed slaves, Pight created sham titles for them. Early reports describe the Native Americans as “Indian Kings” and later “Indian Princes,” but their tribal affiliations were not accurately given. However, based on the names Pight provided we are fairly certain that Pight’s captives were probably Choctaw and Muskogee Creek. Pictured here is “Oakecharinga Tiggwawtubby Tocholochy Ynca” (1722). In the Choctaw language Oakecharinga = Okchanilncha, or “brought to life.” Tiggwatubby = Tikbatubby, or “Kills First,” is a classic Choctaw war title. Tocholochy = Tusholachi, means “will translate.” Ynca appears to be fraudulent. The Princes eventually found their way to Leipzig (Upper Saxony) in 1722 where they were described and illustrated for magazines. Early (ca. 1760) sources from French Louisiana describe Choctaw tattoo, noting that the arm and body tattoos of the warrior operated as a form of heraldry. These marks were also said to appear on a man’s war clubs. The fate of the American Princes seems to have faded from history. Some say they were gifted to the Russian czarina Her Majesty Catherine I. What is known is that their names appeared again in an anonymous Masonic document printed in London in 1726 entitled “The Grand Mystery Laid Open, or the Free-Masons Signs and Word Discovered,” which served as a catechism for inducting new members: “How is the Master of every particular Lodge called? Oakecharing a Tocholochy... “What is the Square called? Whosly Powu Tigwawtubby which signifies the Excellency of Excellencies.” *To learn more, see my book (2014) Tattoo Traditions of Native North America #indigenous #choctaw #culture #heritage #tattoo #tattoos #nativeamerican #nativeamericantattoo #tribaltattoo #tattoohistory #slave #traditionaltattoo #traditionaltattoos #leipzig #blackwork #warrior #warriors
  • Tattooed Captives: Part 1 European sailors kidnapped a tattooed Canadian Inuit woman and her child after a skirmish with “savages” in 1566. The woman and child were exhibited in Belgium in local taverns, and were perhaps the first Indigenous people put on display for money - but nothing is known of their fate. This woodblock print (1567) is the oldest known European depiction of Inuit and tattooed Native North Americans drawn from life. To grab the attention of potential customers, the accompanying text spins a fantastical tale about the initial encounter, noting the woman’s husband “was 12 feet tall and in twelve days [of fighting] killed eleven people with his own hand, Frenchmen and Portuguese, in order to eat them, because they like to eat no flesh better than human flesh.” It also noted that the woman was a cannibal, and incorrectly stated that her husband created her facial “paint” or tattoos, although the art of Arctic tattooing was a female profession. “The paint marks she has on her face are entirely blue, like sky blue, and these the husband makes on his wife so that he can recognize her by them, for otherwise they run among one another like beasts, and the marks cannot be taken off again with any substance.” The flyer closes with an overtly racist statement concerning how low “savage” and unchristian people like these were in the face of European society of the time: “Let us thank God the Almighty for His blessings that He has enlightened us with His word so that we are not such savage people and man-eaters as are in this district, that this woman was captured and brought out of there since she knows nothing of the true God but lives almost more wickedly than the beasts. God grant that she be converted to acknowledge Him. Amen.” #tattoohistory #tattooculture #inuit #canada #terranova #tribaltattoo #traditionaltattoo #tattoo #tattoos #racism #kidnapped #portrait #tatouage #northamerica #labrador #blackwork #heritage #culture #indigenouswomen #indigenous
  • Centipedes…are perhaps the most widely used tattoo motif across the Indigenous world. From Borneo to the Andes, the Philippines to Polynesia, Papua New Guinea to Thailand and beyond, centipedes were revered for their predatory power, omens they delivered, and the ability to travel into the earth as well as on it surfaces. Centipedes, like snakes, slough off old skins and regenerate new ones, similar to the analogy between the shedding of the scabs caused by tattooing, revealing a new skin beneath and old one. This metamorphosis, perhaps symbolizing the transition from the world of the dead to the living, was viewed as a potent source of power. Centipedes also resemble stacked ramiforms – like a tree with many branches – and could also serve as a genealogical symbol; each branch representing successive generations of ancestors with the first ancestor at its head. Thus, the body of the centipede and its spine converges with its many individual legs to represent a cosmic ladder by which the ancestor spirits travel to reach the afterlife. Perhaps one or more of these meanings are embodied in the mummified remains of Mexico’s oldest tattooed mummy. Discovered in a cave in Oaxaca in 1889, the “Toltec Mummy” as she was known dates to 250 A.D. She bears geometric forearm tattoos that resemble Mixtec scribal traditions, but one motif appears to portray a centipede with head turning sideways (color photo). For 100 years, the mummy was largely forgotten until 2012 when detailed studies of her body where conducted at her final resting place in the Musée du quai Branly in Paris. Photo: Mummified remains and 19th century drawings of the “Momia Tolteca.” #mexico #oaxaca #tattoos #tattoo #tattooculture #tattoohistory #women #tattooedwomen #tatuagemfeminina #womenshistory #tatuagem #tatuajes #traditionaltattoo #blackwork #blackworktattoo #tribaltattoo #museums #heritage #culture #arte #centipede
  • Some of my San Pedro friends...
  • Handle of a Moche bone spatula carved as a human fist, 100-800 A.D. Peru. Inlaid with turquoise and pyrite. The inscribed tattoos depict a wide array of designs that have also been found on mummified skin, including a bird drinking from a bowl of blood, a bird warrior, and several war clubs near the knuckles. Also shown are a mythological monster, a lizard, and a centipede. Other spatulas depict the hallucinogenic San Pedro cactus. It is believed these tools were utilized by shamans, priests or priestesses in ritual ceremonies, which probably featured the transfer of sacred fluids (human blood?) through the spatulas. To date, however, none of the eleven Moche spatulas that exist in collections have been tested for blood residue. Scholars believe the clenched fist might have symbolized mountains for the Moche (e.g., pointed knuckles = mountain peaks) where human sacrifices were made. For contemporary Peruvian folk healers, the highest mountain peaks symbolize the soul's capacity to soar through the air. Such magical flight is performed by shamans during the ecstatic trance state induced by the hallucinogenic San Pedro cactus. Photo: Dumbarton Oaks, Pre-Columbian Collection, Washington, D.C. * to learn more, see my book The Tattooing Arts of Tribal Women (2007), pp.185-202. #moche #peru #precolumbian #mummy #bone #tattoo #tattoos #traditionaltattoo #culture #heritage #andes #blood #ritual #tattoohistory #tattooculture #tatuaje #tatuagem #blackworktattoo #turquoise #pyrite #hallucinogen #sanpedrocactus
  • Part 3: Amazon tattoos (Cont’d). In 2007, I spent time with the Kaiabi of the Xingu Reserva and learned details about their tattooing and war traditions. After a Kaiabi warrior killed an enemy, he usually brought back the victim’s head to the village. It was suspended from a pole by cotton string, and as the victor danced into the village and sang songs of victory he was also ornamented with body paint to symbolize his enemy: white paint represented an Apiaká foe; red and black paint represented enemies from other tribes. Afterwards, the head was impaled on a stake and placed in the ground for all to see. Later, the trophy head was boiled in a pot and the meat was consumed by Kaiabi warriors and elders of the tribe to give them “spiritual strength.” Kaiabi warriors who had taken human lives were believed to enter into an intimate relationship with their victims. A powerful shaman (pajé) Tuiarajup told me: “you definitely take an enemy’s soul when you kill him. Also, the blood of the dead man begins filling your stomach which necessitates a special diet and ritual seclusion to avert spiritual ‘poisoning’ and physical transformation.” But before the warrior went into seclusion, he was entitled to have the name of his victim tattooed upon his body: “This tattoo symbol represents the new soul that he has gained as well as its spiritual power,” Tuiarajup said. Sometimes the name appeared as a tattooed glyph upon the head of the victim; in other cases, these names appeared on another body part. Either way, the symbol was mentally recorded by the Kaiabi warrior – unless it was present on the trophy head that was brought back to the village – and repeated to the village’s tattoo master who knew every name associated with the tattooed glyphs of his people’s enemies. Other name glyph tattoos were acquired during rite of passage ceremonies. These names were obtained through the dreams of shamans. Photo: Kaiabi initiate displaying his new name glyph tattoo, 2007. #xingu #brazil #tatuagem #tattoos #tattoo #tattooculture #tattoohistory #blackworktattoo #blackwork #tribaltattoo #traditionaltattoo #culture #amazon #matogrosso #heritage
  • Part 2: Amazon tattoos (Cont’d). In the past, Apiaká men were tattooed by women who used two tucum palm thorns twined together with cotton string. A local tree resin was used for pigment. The pattern consisted of three lines extending from each ear, one to a little below the nose, one to a corner of the mouth, and one to the chin. At the age of 14, the tattooing was completed with a solid black rectangle around the mouth, a symbol that the wearer “could eat human flesh.” Designs tattooed on the body are said to have illustrated a man’s war and hunting deeds, but I believe some of them were also name glyphs, like those used by the related Kaiabi tribe of Brazil. As noted in Part 1, tattooed Apiaká heads sometimes became trophies of the Munduruku. Photo: Apiaká warrior illustrated by Hercules Florence, April 28, 1828. #tattoos #tattoo #brazil #xingu #matogrosso #rondonia #tatuagem #tatuaje #tattoohistory #tattooculture #traditionaltattoos #traditionaltattoo #blackwork #blackworktattoo #tribaltattoo #amazon #heritage #culture #headshots

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