Tribal tatoo story

The tribal style originates from the old tribes like the Celtic, the Maori tribes, the Haida tribes, the inhabitants of the Marquesan and the tribes of Borneo. What a lot of people now recognize as Tribal is in fact a new style: New Tribalism are the remains of the old Tribal style. Particularly the Borneo style shows a lot of resemblance with New Tribalism.

Concerning all Tribal styles the division in black and white is important. Not only of what has been tattood must have a good shape but also the parts that have been left blanc must also be well shaped. Besides it is more beautiful that the shapes follow your body contours. The balance with Tribals and Ornamentals are very important. That is the reason why it is so important to have a tattoo done by someone who understands the different styles.

In recent years Tribal Tattoos have enjoyed a revival.We specialize in Historical and modern Tribal Tattoos of all styles.

Since the dawn of humanity , Tattoos have been made onto both sexes to decorate, enhance, and modify the skin we inherit at birth. Some Tattoos are self-motivated expressions of personal freedom and uniqueness. Most, however, have to do with traditions that mark a person as a member or nonmember of the local group, or express religious, magical, or spiritual beliefs and personal convictions. We all have a undeniable need to belong, this is the most basic Tribal need, and the reason for the Tribal Tattoos renewed power. Tribal Tattoos have a simple appeal : we like the way they look on us, It reinforces a positive feeling about ourselves and connects us some how to an element of mystery and ancient activity.

The practice of skin ornamentation is certainly as widespread and as ancient as Man himself. It may well have been one of his first conscious acts involving tools which separated him from the rest of the animal kingdom. It is thought by some that ancient mans first primordial feeling when he found himself without great amounts of body hair was to take a blackened sharp stick from the fire and decorate ( Tattoo ) his body, in this way he became camouflaged or protected as the animals were.

As the origins of art are rooted in early cave paintings, so positive proof of Tattooing is obtained from recent discoveries of ancient frozen mummified remains of early man that are covered in Tattoos. Oldest Tattooed body known to date is that of a Bronze Age man who died over 5000 years ago. He was found frozen intact in an Italian glazier. Researchers where startled at close examination he was found to have both arms, legs and torso covered with elaborate Tattoos representing mythical creatures. 15000 BC ice age rock carvings show Tattooed figures, 4200 BC Egyptian mummies wear Tattoos. Archeologically validated works of art showing Tattoos started to appear about 30000 years ago. One must not forget that, with the exemption of mummies, all art on the Human body disappears into the fire or ashes along with its bearer.

Western culture now has a widespread resurgence and acceptance of the Tribal practice of Tattooing. More and more research on Tribal people, their arts, Tattoos, and lifestyles, and more and more available images of Tattooed people have led to western peoples interest in Tribal Tattoos. Pretechnological designs (i.e.,Black Tribal) give the wearer a link to the origins of all present human society, a past Tribal culture wherein the Tattoo had an inner meaning to the wearer , not just a modern symbol of our present culture such as a Mickey Mouse Tattoo.

The emergence and / or renaissance of the ancient Tribal Art of Tattooing is by no means restricted to the present generation of young men and women in western countries. After having been outlawed and suppressed for a century or two , these ancient and traditional arts are also being revived by young native peoples of all tribes.

Tattooing is a widely practiced method of body decoration in which markings such as signs , symbols , and letters are applied to the body by puncturing the skin’s outer layer and inserting color into it. Whether ancient or modern techniques are used, the skin is punctured with a sharp instrument, now usually an electric moved needle. In earlier times and other cultures , Tattooing required one or more needles fixed to a stick and driven into the skin by slight tapping, the very process that has led to the term Tattoo via the early Polynesian sound -equivalent of the tapping action: Tau Tau.

The Celtic tribes
The old Celts lived mainly in England and Ireland (before also in France). Round the year 1000 the Celtic civilization gradually disappeared. Typical of this style is interlace, spirals, dogs, birds and humans

The Maori tribes
The Maori originate from New Zealand and have traditional facial tattoos (moko) and special leg tattoos. This tattoo style, that shows a lot of resemblance with the wood carving of the Maoris, is typical for its spirals. Under influence of the missionaries the traditional Maori tattoos disappeared round 1900. In those days the Maori were hunted for their (tattooed) head as a trophy.

The facial tattoos of the Maori were individually designed and there for never copied from each other. According to the legend the facial tattoos were made to be recognized by friends and family once deceased. According to the story the light goes right through you when you are dead, but your tattoos show who you are. Since 1980-1990 there is an uprising of the tattoo phenomenon under the Maori in New Zealand. For the Maori a tattoo means inner strength and mastering this inner strength.



The Haida tribes
The Haida (Indian tribes) lived on the Northwest coast of America. This style of tattoos, which shows a lot of resemblance with the woodcarving of the Haida, thunderbirds, beavers, bears, fish and woodcarving are very common. The pictures are mainly about the Indian astrology. The Indians believed that you partly take over the strength of the animal when having such a tattoo. The Haida style is a forceful, masculine style.

The Marquesan tribes
The Marquesan style originates from the inhabitants of the Marquesan Islands in Polynesia. These islanders used to be completely covered with tattoos. Their bodies showed picture stories, for other tribes to recognize who you were, where you were from and what you did. In the entire Polynesian area the tattoo culture always has been present, everyone was tattood. The word tattoo is derived from the word 'tatau' that comes from this area. The Marquesan style is mainly based on the divinity Tiki, who is always portrayed with his eyes closed because he smells danger before he sees it. Images that are used a lot in this style are: shells (wealth), shark teeth (protection) lizards, whales, turtles, fish hooks, and so on. The Marquesan style is a form of language in symbols.


Borneo
Borneo is situated above Indonesia. In former times the headhunters (from the Iban- and Dayak tribes) had tattoos for protection and as proof of their achievement. That is how one obtained a spiral in the form of a flower on the front of the shoulders when making a long trip, but also for cutting someone's head there was a particular symbol. The headhunters protected the rest of the tribe that lived in trees. They themselves lived on the ground and by the looks of their tattoos you could see what they did and what they have been through. Typical for this style are images of scorpions, flowers, dogs, dragons and spirals.