Polynesian Tattoo Art and American Interpretation

Polynesian Tattoos and Tattoo Designs

The Polynesian islands (which include Samoa, The Cook Islands, Easter Island, Tonga, French Polynesia, Tahiti, and our own Hawaii, just to name a few) have been a popular tourist destination across the United States and the world at large. There is something about the relaxed, friendly, colorful people that keeps us regularly coming back for more. With a history and culture quite different from our own, the traditions, mythology and artistic expression of this area has spread to the world abroad, one foreign visitor at a time.

Discovered in the 1500s, it wouldnt be for two or three more centuries that the Polynesian islands would begin to command much attention from the world at large. This attention came at a high price for the native inhabitants. By the time the missionaries arrived and got settled down, they quickly strived to erase a good portion of the native culture, from the seductive dancing of the native women to the widely used practice of tattoo.

As a matter of fact, the widely popular tribal tattoo style of today can be traced back to the Pacific Rim and Southeast Asia. Even the word tattoo is said to have derived from that area. Polynesians used the word tatao meaning to tap. Tahitians used the word tatu, which means to mark something. Tattoo, the word most commonly used today, was said to have been penned by Caption Cook when he explored those same areas.

Fortunately, today things are much more relaxed, and the native culture of the many different Polynesian islands is able to be expressed much more freely. Recently, the first international festival of tattooing was organized in this area in April of 2000 on the sacred island of Raiatea. It gathered 50 tattoo masters from all over the world and was a huge success.