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Tribal tattoos have been practiced for thousands of years.
Modern people still get them done for many reasons such as to belong
to a modern 'tribe' even if they do it on a subconcious level.
Getting tattooed was also seen as a rite of passage into adulthood.
A belief goes that if a girl can't take the pain of tattooing, she is
un-marriageable, because she will never be able to deal with the pain
of child birth. If a boy can't deal with the pain he is considered to
be a bad risk as a warrior, and could become isolated from the tribe.
Some primitive tribes use tattooing as a rite of social status. The
Maori, of New Zealand use tattooing primarily for this purpose. To the
Maori, a person's Moko designs enhanced their prestige and show
transition from one social status to another. At its highest level,
Moko designs proclaimed the sacredness of chieftanship.
The Hawaiians are prominent among people who have specific tattoo
gods. In Hawaii, the images of the tattoo gods are kept in the temples
of tattoo priests. Each tattoo session begins with a prayer to the
tattoo gods that the operation might not cause death, that the wounds
might heal soon, and that the designs might be handsome. Many modern
American tattooist will tell you, "When you should get a tattoo, the
tattoo god will tell you that it is time."
In the 1970's, American tattooing discovered primitive, tribal
tattoos. People wanted simple designs with meaning and they began
copying designs, primarily from the islands of the South Pacific. In
the past few decades, people of European stock began looking for
tribal tattoos of their own origins and created a new form of tattoo
commonly known as neo tribal tattoos.
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