TÄ moko
Tā moko is the permanent decoration of the body and face of the Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. It differs from the commonly used form of tattooing in so far as it is not applied by means of many small dots and stitches, but with scratching and scraping tools. The skin with Moko carries scarred surveys and is no longer smooth and soft.
This tradition was brought by Māori from their Polynesian homeland Hawaiki, their methods and patterns are similar to those in other parts of Polynesia.
Importance
Before the Europeans came to New Zealand, contributed practically all high-ranking Māori moko. Māori without Moko were considered to be those of low social status. Obtaining the Moko marked an important stage of life in the transition from childhood to adulthood, and was accompanied by many rituals. The Moko itself involves a kind of code that can be statements about the origin and rank of the wearer.
In addition, Moko were considered attractive. Men wore Moko especially on the face, thighs and buttocks, sometimes on the back and calves. Women wore moko on their lips and chin, sometimes on the forehead and on the back and thighs.
In the Musketenkriegen were Mokomokai, used skull tattooed Maori warriors as payment for firearms.
Instruments
Originally, the tohunga -ta- moko ( tattoo ) various scrapers and scratches from the bones of the albatross, provided with a handle. The color pigments for the body were made of Awheto - a material derived from fruiting bodies of the fungus Cordyceps robertsii - the darker for the face of Ngaheru, charred wood. The pigments were stored in jewelry boxes called oko and passed down from generation to generation. In general, the tattoo artist were men.
Tā moko today
Since 1990 Tā moko is experiencing a renaissance - both men and women - as a sign of identity and as part of the general revival of the language and culture of Māori. However, the patterns are tattooed today, no more scratched with scrapers in the skin. Not all Moko, however, are permanent, exist primarily in connection with the Moko tourist events in the face of often applied paint.
Tā moko in art
Known for detailed Tā moko portrait painting painter Gottfried Lindauer and the CF Goldie were.
Footnotes
Swell
- Te Rangi Hiroa (Sir Peter Buck ): The Coming of the Maori. 2nd edition. Wellington 1974. ( First edition 1949)
- Robert Jahnke Huia Tomlins - Jahnke: The politics of Māori image and design. In: Pukenga korero Raumati (summer) 2003, vol. 7, no 1, pp. 5-31.
- Michael King, Marti Friedlander: Moko: Maori Tattooing in the 20th Century. 2nd edition. David Bateman, Auckland 1992.
- Mirja Loth: Moko - Tattoo Maori. Backgrounds, meaning, myths and sketches. Mana Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-934031-59-3.
- Robley, Major - General: Moko, or Māori Tattooing. Southern Reprints, Papakura 1987.
- Linda Waimarie Nikora, Mohi Rua, Ngahuia Te Awekotuku: Wearing Moko: Māori Facial Marking in Today 's World. In: Nicholas Thomas, Anna Cole, Bronwen Douglas ( ed.): tattoo. Bodies, Art and Exchange in the Pacific and the West. Reacktion Books, London, pp. 191-204.
- Ngahuia Te Awekotuku: More than Skin Deep. In: Elazar Barkan, Ronald Bush ( eds ): Claiming the Stone: Naming the Bones: Cultural Property and the Negotiation of National and Ethnic Identity. Getty Press, Los Angeles 2002, pp. 243-254.
- Ngahuia Te Awekotuku: Tā Moko: Māori Tattoo. Goldie. Exhibition catalog. ACAG and David Bateman, Auckland 1997, pp. 108-114.
- Hans Neleman: Moko - Maori tattoo. Stemmle Edition, 1999, ISBN 3-908161-95-9.