Tattoo museum

Then we went to the National Tattoo Museum in Wellington. Whether or not it's an official museum I have no idea, but it was interesting. Lots of people have had lots of tattoos over the years, and have had their pictures taken. This was my 2nd favorite, a very typical NZ symbol of the unfurling fern, representing new beginnings. One of the Maori names for it is the Koru. Very graceful and beautiful.

We learned that Samoan males get tattoos as a rite of passage. Samoan tattoos look like shorts, starting a little above the waist and going to the knee.

Maori face tattoos represent their lineage. Tattooing fell out of favor but is coming back. Men tattoo their entire faces, and women tattoo just the chin.

The traditional method for such tattooing is a bone chisel attached at right angles to a stick. The person doing the tattoo puts the chisel on the skin and taps it, creating a puncture. Then whatever they're using for ink is rubbed on the hole. Gad, I can't imagine--it sounds SO painful. No wonder it's a rite of passage. And people can die from infection if the skin isn't properly cared for.