Tahitian Tattoos

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews and discusses the origin of tattoos. According to the paper, the history of tattoos dates back some five thousand years. The paper reports that the earliest inhabitants of Tahiti were Polynesians and it is believed that it was these Polynesians that brought the art of tattooing to the Islands. According to the paper, this art form was used to express personality and family identity.

From the Paper:

"The earliest inhabitants of Tahiti were Polynesians who came there from Asia centuries ago. The first European to the island was British sea captain Samuel Wallis in 1767, who claimed it for Britain, followed a year later by French navigator Louis Antoine de Bougainville, who claimed it for France (Tahiti 1996). It became a French protectorate in 1842, a French colony in 1880, and in 1946, France declared Tahiti and the other islands of French Polynesia to be French overseas territory. Today it remains under French rule (Tahiti 1996)."
"No one knows for certain, but it is most likely that the art of Polynesian tattooing was brought to the islands by the migrant population from Asia. Because there was no written language in Polynesian culture, this art form was sued to express personality and family identity (History 2006). Tattoos were used to indicate an individual's status in society, such as sexual maturity, genealogy and rank within society, thus the majority of all ancient Polynesians were tattooed (History 2006). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Hawthorne, Mark. (2001 August 31). The Tale of Tattoos: The history and culture of body art in India and abroad. Hinduism Today. Retrieved February 14 2007 from HighBeam Research Library.
• History of Polynesian Tattoos. (2006). Retrieved February 14 2007 from:http://www.tahititatou.com/history.html
• Saltz, Ina. (2006). Body Type. Abrams Image. New York. Pp.12,13.
• Tahiti. (1996). The World Book Encyclopedia. World Book, Inc. Pp. 14.

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