The Marquesas have a long history of tattooing. It played a significant role in their soceity. Both men and women were tattooed. It was done to confer status or mark special events in life. Men were extensivley tattoed using a traditional process. A tattoo comb made of bone attached to a club was hammered into the skin. It was a long ardous and dangerous process that often involved in death through infection.
When the early explorers discovered the Islands, many of the sailors adopted tattoos before returning to The Old World.
The arrival of the church saw The Marquesan culture subjecated and the practice of tattooing banned.
The revival, as the Marquesans describe it, has seen a resurgence of traditional dance and song and the practice of tattoos. Nowdays as you travel around these islands, it is common to see of both men and women with Marquesan tattoos.
The most common tattoos on modern Maquesan men is one side of the upper body and/or both lower legs.
The tattoos are traditional in design and feature symbols significant to original beliefs, such as tikis, sun, lizards, man, family, waves, shark teeth and other purely decorative symbols.
The most common modern tattoo designs we have seen on women are on the fore arm and hands (like a glove) or on the ear and side of the neck (like a earing).
I had often thought about getting a tattoo but had never found a design or reason that seemed appropriate. After arriving in The Marquesas, having crossed two oceans to get here, and seeing the beautiful tattoo designs displayed, it felt the right place to get ‘ink’. I had read about a tattoo artist on Tahuata, named Felix, who carried out beautiful work. He lives in the village of Vaithau. We sailed there and met up with him. He agreed to tattoo me. Apparently he may refuse if he sees bad ‘mana’ in you. He was available in five days (he is in demand).
The day arrived and he picked us up in his truck and drove us up the hill to his home, set in beautiful tropical gardens overlooking the bay. We discussed the design and my journey to get here and he set to work drawing it freehand on my back. Once satisfied, he tattooed it using modern sterile equipment. The whole process took 6 hours and I can honestly say it was not painful. I had no burning sensation, only the feeling of a blunt metal object being dragged across my skin. Maybe it is my pain threshold, or more likely Felix’s skill, but it was not an unpleasnt experience. Felix was also pleased how little I bled and said it was good Mana.
Once he had finished, Felix said we should celebrate and went to the village and returned with a crate of beer. He then invited us to be guests for lunch the next day at house.
The design of the Tattoo is a Manta Ray with traditional Marquesan symbols. The tail represents the support I had to get here and the waves on the two wings represent the two oceans I have crossed. The Manta Ray is regarded as a spirit of the ocean and as a scuba diver, I have long had a fascination for them, having been fortunate enough to dive with them and experience their grace and peacefulness.
So that is my tattoo story that I am pleased to share. I can highly recommend Felix if you find yourself here and would like to mark your own significant event.
