Wood carving - the basis of the tattoo. The origins of Moko New Zealand tattooing
For Europeans, the civilizations of Oceania are divided into 3 major parts, by which we still label them today as very similar and diametrically different. Polynesians, Micronesians and Melanesians. Cultural differences affect not only language, but also body painting, tattooing culture.
We have already concluded that the Polynesian islands were settled by people who came from the main continent of Thailand and South America. In New Zealand, there are no human artifacts or remains dating earlier than Kaharoa Tephra, a layer of volcanic debris deposited by the eruption of Mount Tarawera around 1314. Pedigrees of basic culture that points to 1350 year as a possible date for the founding of the main canoes. The descendants of these settlers became known as Maori, forming a distinct, individual culture of their own. Their traditional history describes their origins in migration waves, culminating in the arrival of a "great fleet" in the 14th century from Hawaiki, a mythical land commonly identified as Tahiti.
There is no evidence of a pre-Maori civilization on mainland New Zealand. OK! Our attention attracted the specific type of tattooing. Of course, the Maori were incredibly talented when it came to tattooing. Moko (tattoos) are believed to originate from Maori mythology and tell the story of an underworld princess Niwareka and a young man named Mataora.
Mataora took advantage of Niwareka, after which she left him and returned to the underground. Mataora decided to go in search of Niwareka; during the journey his complexion was smeared and his whole appearance ridiculed. Despite this, Mataora finds Niwareka, who accepted his apology. As a gift, Niwareka's father taught Mataora how to make moko tattoos so that his complexion would no longer smudge.
Indeed, a real M.O.K.O. can and should be considered a drawing that is carved into your skin.
Before the arrival of European settlers, it was tormented by the complex designs that were carved into skin. Traditionally, the tohunga used a small hammer and a bone chisel to press (carve) a pattern into the skin, creating grooves with raised edges,
a highly skilled combination of scarification and tattooing. The method is based on wide-toothed combs of various widths, called uhi (chisel blades), which are dipped in dark pigment and pierced into the skin with small hammers. The pigment used was smoke-black obtained by burning kahikatea or white pine, sometimes mixed with kauri gum or soot from the oily koromiko (hebe) bush.
There is an assumption that this technique was based on highly developed artistic carvings, which were reflected in moko (tattoos). The significance of these design motifs seems to be a complex interaction between high aesthetics and visual language that emphasizes artistic excellence, identity and role.
The main lines of a Maori tattoo are called manava (heart). These lines reflect your life’s journey. In book written by Patricia Steer and Gordon Toi Hatfield “Dedicated by Blood: Renaissance of Ta Moko Tuhipo”, Mary Rapido Kereopa explains the meaning of moko: “Moko is my voice; it is my visible presence in this time and in this space. It is my rite of passage into the past and into the future. It is a revolving door on my tupuna (ancestors) and my descendants”. An integral part of Maori culture is body art called Moko tattoos. Maori consider the upper part to be the most sacred part of the body, often covering the entire face (full face tattoos or facial moko). This is an important feature, because only facial tattoos are not found in other cultures and their performance is essential.
The world learned about Maori thanks to Europeans. However, this was not a happy meeting of two different cultures. Europeans were struck by the appearance of the Maori people, mainly because of their facial tattoos.
Their passion was so strong that they started killing Maori people and taking their heads home as souvenirs. The Maori even had to stop practicing moko tattoos, fearing the white "headhunters". Even today, you won’t see a real moko on face anymore - this circumstance puts this tattoo culture on the list as lost.
In the name of truth, Maori have written themselves into history with bloody letters and a good appetite. Professor Margaret Mutu, head of Māori studies at the University of Auckland, said "cannibalism was widespread throughout New Zealand''. "It certainly was. In our history and traditions, it is written in the most diverse ways, many place names refer to it.' "It was part of our culture."
In the 1860s, Major-General Horatio Gordon Robley served in the British Army during New Zealand’s Land Wars. While there, he became fascinated by the local tribesman, the Maori, and their tradition of facial tattooing. A talented illustrator, he began sketching tattoos and eventually published a book on the subject. He discovered that facial tattoos, known as moko, were given mainly to men who held a high positions in society. Occasionally, a high-ranking woman would have moko on her lips or chin, but this was rare.
When someone died with a moko, their entire head was preserved to honor their high social status. During preservation, the eyes and brain were removed, and all holes were sealed with flax fiber and rubber. The head was boiled, then smoked, before being dried in the sun and treated with shark oil. The head was then given to the tribesman's family, who kept it in an ornate box and brought it out for sacred ceremonies. Sometimes the heads of opposing tribe members were preserved and displayed as war trophies. For the foreign mokomokai, exchange between tribes was an important element of peace treaties.
In the early 19th century, when Europeans arrived in New Zealand, mokomokai became valuable trade items. Europeans, like Robley, were fascinated by the heads and were willing to exchange them for firearms that the Maori could use in their armies. They became so invested in the mokomokai trade that they often raided neighboring villages to gather more heads. They tattooed slaves and prisoners and created fake moko to meet the high demand.
Good :) Back to the Moko tattoos themselves :) Maori traditional Ta Moko means - picture; Kiri means skin and Tuhi means art. Many design motifs are universal, especially the spiral elements applied to the chin, cheeks and lower jaw, and the curved rays on the forehead and from nose to mouth. Other elements were carefully chosen to accentuate and enhance the individual features, giving meaning to the expression Mataora, the living face. Historian Michael King, in his book Moko: Maori Tattooing in the Twentieth Century, quotes Netana Vakaari of the Waimanu tribe who said, “All your most valuable possessions can be taken from you. But your moko cannot be taken from you except by death. It will be your ornament and your companion until your last day.”
In this way, moko also reminds us of the emptiness of materialism. Honoring your body, rather than coveting possessions, is the path to health and happiness. Moko grounds the wearer in what really matters: family, community, honor, love.
P.S
Moko is also about who you are as a person, including what you have yet to realize. “Moko isn't just a pretty design,” says Gordon Toi Hatfield, moko artist and author of Dedicated by Blood. “Moko doesn’t create a person but complements the existing and often unrealized potential of individual. The individual is the testimony of moko, not the other way around.
Well said :) Perhaps the inheritors of this culture will revive the true Moko tradition, a combination of scarification and tattooing that creates a truly unique facial appearance through blood and pain. Renowned Maori tattooist Te Rangitu Netana: "It's like turning your soul out for everyone to see, and it keeps you humble. You don't have to talk about yourself so much because people can see for themselves."